


Apprehension

by Sxnee



Series: ~Markjin Fanfic~ [1]
Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cute Mark Tuan, Fluff and Angst, Jealous Park Jinyoung | Jr., Jinmark, M/M, Markjin, Park Jinyoung | Jr./Mark Tuan Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 02:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 66,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7600123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sxnee/pseuds/Sxnee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. September 26, 2014

Mark stares hard at the clock across the room as he desperately waits for time to speed up so he can just go home already. Today has been particularly long and hard, and it’s only his second week here in Seoul. He’s already wishing he were back home in California, but all he can do now is wait for this seemingly endless day to finally come to a close. In the blink of his tired eyes, the bell rings, and Mark swears he must have some kind of special abilities because it seems like the forces of nature have obeyed his wishes. Everyone within the large lecture hall stands up almost simultaneously and they start packing their belongings away into their bags. Mark is no exception, and quickly shoves his books and papers into his backpack. He pushes past people who were moving too slow for his liking, and is finally out in the hallway, ready to make his way towards the doors and finally be free for the weekend. Mark is very, very ready to go home.

Although Mark is your average upstanding citizen and a Class-A guy, he hasn’t made any friends yet. He wants to make friends, but he’s a pretty shy person. That particular trait can make it hard for him to socialize with people. Yeah, he hasn’t made any moves to try and talk to anyone, but they haven’t made any moves either. He’s not completely at fault here.  


Just as he’s thinking that, a group of three guys stop right in front of him, blocking him from being able to exit the school. They look quite intimidating, and like they were up to no good, so Mark is understandably apprehensive at the idea of talking to them.  


“You’re new here, right?” One of them ask in English. Mark is a bit surprised as most people here preferred to use Korean over anything else. I mean, they are in Korea after all. They must be foreigners, like him.

“Uh, yeah.” Mark nods quickly, trying not to seem too surprised at the sudden change in language.

“I’m Chris. This is Jordan and Josh.” He introduces himself and the two others who stand at his sides. He’s most likely the leader of this little clique of theirs. He has that kind of vibe to him.

“Mark.” He responds simply.

“Look, we’re not here to cause you any trouble. I can tell you’re a bit hesitant to talk to us.” The one called Jordan speaks up. “We’re here to help.”

“Help?” Mark questions.

“Yeah, this school is a dog eat dog world. It’s a scary place if you’re all alone. We decided that since you’re probably American-born like us, we should try and make things easier for you. It wasn’t so easy for us.” Chris explains. Well, he isn’t wrong about Mark being American, but he isn’t sure if he needs these guys’ help.

“What do you mean it’s a _‘dog eat dog world’_?”

“You’ve just arrived so you don’t really know how things are around here. Believe us when we say this: it’s dangerous for people like us. Foreigners aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. They think we’re… well, foreign. I guess new cultures are just a little hard for some people to accept.” Chris replies. Mark eyes Chris and his cronies before nodding in response to his intimidating comment.

“Okay, thanks for the advice.” Mark tries walking past their group, but Josh grabs his arm.  


“If you need help, we’re here. And make sure you watch out for—“

“Well, well well…” They all hear suddenly. Mark turns his head to see another new face with several other people behind him. Mark really doesn’t feel like dealing with anymore people today, so he pulls himself away from Josh’s grasp and starts walking away before they can stop him. “Hey!” Mark hears someone call after him as he’s retreating, but he really doesn’t have the energy to care. He continues to walk without as much as a glance behind him.  


Jinyoung watches with intense eyes as a guy he’s never seen before walks away from him towards the front doors of the school. Even though he called out to him, he doesn’t stop or turn around. He either didn’t hear Jinyoung, or he didn’t care, because he was soon out of the doors and gone from everyone’s sights. Whatever, that guy probably wasn’t anything special anyway. Jinyoung focuses his attention back on Chris and his group of foreigners. 

“What’s going on here, ladies?”

“Leave us alone, Junior.” One of Chris’s little minions spit towards Jinyoung, attempting to seem intimidating. Jinyoung grabs him roughly by the collar, bringing his face close so he can give him a real warning.

“Listen you punk, I don’t think you know who you’re talking to. This is my territory, so I suggest you stay out of my space.” Jinyoung releases him, causing him to stumble backwards into the other two. “Watch out. This is a warning.” He pushes past Chris’s group and walks towards the exit with his friends following behind.

“Aish, who do they think they are, talking to me like that?” He scoffs.

“Don’t worry about it, Junior. They’re not even worth it.” One of his friends reassures him.  


He sighs. “Whatever. I’m going home now.” He informs the others as he quickly splits from the group, walking a different path. After a while of walking by himself, he lets out a big sigh. Jinyoung isn’t looking forward to returning home. Things have been tense lately. It’s hard for Jinyoung to live in a house with people he hates. Fortunately, it’s friday, so he only has to be at home for a few minutes. You see, every weekend he gets to spend time with his mother, and he cherishes every moment he gets with her. She’s the light of his life, and a lot more accepting than his father is.

Jinyoung remembers the day like it was yesterday. He was fourteen at the time of the incident. He used to be a nice kid, although he had his problems, but what happened is what really pushed him over the edge.  
-

_“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” Minhyuk asked Jinyoung timidly. Jinyoung laughed at his hesitation._

_“Dude, I told you my dad said it was fine. Besides, he’s at work right now so you have nothing to worry about. He couldn’t stop me from having you over if he tried.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes at his best friend._

_“Just making sure, okay? I don’t want to get in trouble.” Minhyuk relaxed and followed Jinyoung towards his bedroom._

_“Whatever.” Jinyoung shrugged. He set his backpack down on his bed and turned towards Minhyuk. “Is there anything in particular you want to play? My dad buys me pretty much any game I want, so you can choose anything.” Jinyoung exclaimed proudly as he showed off his extensive collection of games for the Nintendo 3DS. One must admit, his collection was pretty impressive._

_“Hmm…” Minhyuk browsed carefully before he paused. Obviously he spotted something he was interested in. “How about this one?”_

_“What? NintenDogs?” Jinyoung asked incredulously, but Minhyuk only shrugged._

_“What can I say? I’m an animal lover.” He smiled. Jinyoung sighed, immediately giving into his friend’s choice in game._

_“Fine. You’re lucky I’m a good friend, otherwise I definitely wouldn’t be playing with you.” Jinyoung responded. Minhyuk gave him a bright smile and Jinyoung’s heart started pounding. He told himself to stop, because he couldn’t have himself feeling this way. Not now. It’s not right… right?_

_“I think you’re just worried that my dog will be better than yours.” Minhyuk laughed. “Hey, after you train your dog a little, let’s have a playdate!” He said excitedly. In all of Jinyoung’s years, he’s never seen anyone so excited over a game about dogs._

_“Yeah, whatever.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes. He and Minhyuk sat on his bed against the wall and started training their virtual dogs aggressively. Only the best dog will be able to get gold at the dog shows. Minhyuk was finding it much more enjoyable than Jinyoung was though. Jinyoung tried hard to focus on his game, but he just couldn’t seem to. Not with Minhyuk sitting so close to him._

_“Junior… are you okay? You’ve been staring at my request to have a playdate for, like, the past five minutes.” Minhyuk noticed, concern in his voice._

_Jinyoung looked at him nervously. “N-no, I’m fine, really. Don’t worry about it.” He said as he clicked a few things on his screen._

_“Are you sure? Because you can talk to me about anything.”_

_Jinyoung hesitated for a minute, but decided to gather up all the courage he could muster. He met Minhyuk’s eyes and started to ask. “H-have you ever…”_

_“Have I ever what?”_

_“Have you ever liked someone but you knew you shouldn’t? Like, it was wrong to like them?”_  


_Minhyuk’s eyes searched Jinyoung’s, and by the way he looked at him, Jinyoung knew that he had probably figured out what he was getting at. “A-are you… Do you…?” He tripped over his words._

_“I…” Jinyoung started. “I think so…” He looked down at his lap nervously. “Do you still want to be my friend even if I’m like this?”_

_“Of course I’ll still be your friend, Junior. You know… you’re not the only one who feels that way.” He told Jinyoung shyly. Jinyoung looked up and saw Minhyuk staring at him._

_“So are you saying you’re like me too?” He questioned. Minhyuk nodded. “Minhyuk.”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“I like you.” Jinyoung admitted suddenly. Things grew silent between them and Jinyoung started to regret his confession. “I-I mean, like, as a friend and everything.” He awkwardly attempted to cover up his real feelings._

_“I like you too.” Minhyuk said. “I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way though. I’m glad you do.” He smiled at Jinyoung and grabbed his hand. Jinyoung’s heart pounded loudly in his chest at this mere physical contact. It wasn’t much, but it was a lot at the time._

_“I’ve never really done anything like this before, so I’m kind of scared. I.. never thought I’d like…” Jinyoung couldn’t bring himself to say it._

_“It’s okay. It’s okay to be scared.” Minhyuk whispered. He moved closer to Jinyoung on the bed and Jinyoung swallowed hard at their sudden proximity. Is he going to kiss me? Jinyoung asked himself. He didn’t know if he wanted him to. What if Im bad at it? What if something goes wrong? But Minhyuk didn’t seem to be worried about any of that, because Jinyoung watched his eyes close and his face move closer. Jinyoung was so stunned that he couldn’t move._

_Jinyoung felt Minhyuk’s warm breath on his lips and froze up. This was such a new thing. He wasn’t sure what to do. Should he tell Minhyuk to stop? Before he could even try to stop him, their lips were connected. Jinyoung’s eyes reflexively closed. It was probably the strangest sensation he’s ever experienced in his life, kissing another boy. It felt right, even though he knew it was wrong. He knew he could trust Minhyuk though. He knew he’d stay by his side through this very confusing time. And it was a very confusing time indeed._  


_Minhyuk pulled away from Jinyoung and their eyes met. Jinyoung let out a shaky breath, but smiled at Minhyuk. “That was kind of weird.” He chuckled._

_“Did you not like it?” Minhyuk asked. Jinyoung responded by moving in yet again. Minhyuk happily reciprocated the kiss Jinyoung pressed against his lips, and he felt like he was in complete ecstasy. He felt free from judgement in this moment. He almost couldn’t describe it. He didn’t feel any pressure to be like everyone else, he didn’t feel like this was just a phase, and he didn’t want it to end. But he knew it would have to eventually._

_“What the hell?” Jinyoung and Minhyuk heard. Jinyoung tore himself away from Minhyuk and turned around to see his father standing at the door. He wore an absolutely disgusted and outraged expression on his aged face._

_“D-dad—“ Jinyoung started, but was cut off when his father grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor before grabbing Minhyuk._

_“Get the hell out of my house!” His father yelled._

_“S-sir, let me explain!” Minhyuk stuttered._

_“No! Get the hell out of my sight! Never come back here.” He spat at his son’s best friend. Jinyoung couldn’t help the tears that formed in his eyes as he watched Minhyuk glance at him before grabbing all of his things and leaving. Jinyoung started to get up and his father grabbed him roughly again, forcing him to his feet. “What the hell was that?”_

_“D-dad.” He started sobbing. “Dad, I think… I’m g-gay.” He cried._

_“Gay?” His father yelled. “Gay? No, you are not gay. No son of mine will be this way. No son of mine will be a faggot, you hear me?” He screamed at Jinyoung. It only made him cry harder. He threw his son back down again. “Aish, you’re not a man. Men don’t cry like little girls.”_

_“Why can’t you just accept me for who I am?” Jinyoung asked him, trying to wipe his eyes and stop crying._

_“Accept you for who you are? I can’t even look at you the same after this. Do you honestly think it’s okay to be this way? You’re a fucking embarrassment to this family. You’re a disgrace.” He yelled. Is that really what he thinks about me? About people like me? He thinks I’m an embarrassment and a disgrace, and can’t even look at me? Jinyoung asked himself._  


_“This is why I wanted to live with mom!” Jinyoung screamed. “Why did you even bother with a custody battle when you already hate me so much?”_

_His father let out a dry chuckle. “I have no idea, now that you ask.” He glared right at his son. “If I ever see you doing something like that again…” He started to threaten but then they heard the front door open. “Do not bring this up. Do not talk to your stepmother about it. Do not tell anyone about what happened, you hear me?” He whispered. Jinyoung only stared at him. “Do you hear me, you little punk?” He raised his voice a little._

_“I hear you.” Jinyoung reluctantly responded. His father shot him a warning glance before leaving his room and closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Jinyoung collapsed to the ground. He felt so weak and helpless. He couldn’t protect himself or Minhyuk. He really thought his dad was such an asshole. He let his tears fall as he sat on the floor. He didn’t think things would end up this way. He didn’t want things to be like this. Why did he have to be like this, and why did he have to act on it? Maybe it really is just a phase. Maybe it’ll pass…_

-

That day is what really changed Jinyoung. On top of that shitty day, his father’s powerful status helped him pull some strings to force Minhyuk and his family to leave Seoul. Jinyoung didn’t even know until Minhyuk was already gone. There was no goodbye or anything, and attempting to call him only resulted in a pre-recorded message about a disconnected phone. He couldn’t have reached Minhyuk even if he wanted to.

But whatever. That’s all in the past. Jinyoung’s pretty much numb to everything nowadays. He’s not really all that interested in either gender at this point in his life either. Not after everything he went through when he was younger. First it was his fathers affair, then his parents divorce, then finding out his father was planning to marry that woman he chose over Jinyoung’s own mother. The fact that the woman was the mother of one of Jinyoung’s close friends really took the cake in his eyes. He can’t even look at his former best friend Yugyeom the same after that. He’s become just another obstacle in Jinyoung’s life. The only things that keeps him sane anymore are his mother and his ability to take everything out on the people around him.

He shakes his head, quickly trying to dispel any negative thoughts from his mind as he walks towards his father’s house. He’s already in a upset from just being around Chris’s group earlier, and doesn’t feel like starting a fight with anyone over his foul mood. Not before he goes to see his mother.

He walks into the house and, surprisingly, it’s empty. Jinyoung isn’t complaining though. Any day he doesn’t have to deal with his stupid family is a good one.

He walks up towards his room to pack a bag. Two sets of clothes, two sets of pajamas, extra socks, toothbrush, comb, underwear, razor, phone and charger, and a few books he’s been waiting all week to show his mother. Everything is neatly packed away in his bag as he zips it all up.

“I think that’s it.” Jinyoung whispers to himself as he looks around his bedroom, searching for anything he may have forgotten to grab. He decides everything’s in order and grabs his bag, heading downstairs and out the door to walk to his mother’s house. Just as he thinks he’s free, his father’s car pulls up. Jinyoung lets out a sigh. He was really hoping he’d avoid them today. He decides it would be best to pay them no mind as he walks down the driveway.  
“Hey, Jinyoung.” Yugyeom says to him suddenly. Jinyoung stops in his tracks and faces his stepbrother with a cold expression.

“It’s Junior to you.” He spits at Yugyeom before walking off and down the street. After a while of walking, he comes upon a convenience store. He looks into the store and decides it wouldn’t hurt to pick up a few snacks for him and his mother in case they want to have a movie night some time this weekend.

Mark stands inside the convenience store, staring hard at the many, many packages of triangular kimbap looking him right in the stomach. He’s hungry. So hungry he might die of starvation if he doesn’t quickly buy at least three kimbaps and shove them down his throat at record speed to appease his stomach.

Mark quickly pulls his wallet from his back pocket, desperately hoping he has enough spare cash to buy his food. But, unfortunately, he’s completely and utterly broke. The inside of his wallet looks like it hasn’t been touched by money in years. “Damn it.” Mark curses under his breath. He definitely doesn’t have enough money to feed himself right now. He’ll just have to wait until he gets home.

Mark turns away from the delicious looking triangular kimbap and finds someone staring at him. He pauses where he is and looks right back at the boy across from him. It’s the guy he saw earlier when that Chris guy was trying to recruit him. “Sorry.” Mark mumbles, bowing to Jinyoung.

Jinyoung returns his bow but keeps his eyes on Mark. He saw him staring sadly into his very empty wallet, and could hear his stomach growling from the other side of the store. “Are you hungry?“ Jinyoung asks.

“M-me?” Mark stutters. Jinyoung nods. “Well, yeah. I guess I am pretty hungry, but I don’t have any money right now so I’ll have to wait until I get home…” Mark says quickly, tripping over several words to try and make it to the end of his sentence.

Jinyoung walks towards the kimbap and searches for a minute before grabbing a package and looking right at Mark. “Do you like spicy fried pork? I was buying some anyway, so…” He shrugs and Mark swallows hard. This isn’t an offer he’s going to turn down.

“Thank you so much.” Mark bows again. “I promise you I’ll pay you back.”

Jinyoung shakes his head though. “It’s fine. I really don’t mind.” He says. “I’m Junior, by the way.”

“Mark.” He responds politely. Jinyoung looks at Mark funny when he realizes he’s a foreigner, but quickly dismisses his thoughts. “Is Junior your real name?” Mark asks curiously.  
“No… it’s Jinyoung.”

“Jinyoung…” Mark says his name and Jinyoung meet his eyes. “Can I call you that? It suits you way better than Junior does.”

Jinyoung shrugs and looks away from Mark. “I mean, I guess so.” It’s silent for a minute as Mark and Jinyoung walk up to the register. Jinyoung pulls his wallet out and quickly pays for his and Marks snacks. “So, where are you from?” He asks.

“America. California.” Mark speaks. Jinyoung nods, but doesn’t seem as impressed by Mark as other people have before. In a way, it makes him feel really comfortable. He doesn’t feel like Jinyoung’s expecting him to be anything else besides a regular person.

“That’s cool, I guess.” Jinyoung shrugs again. He notices Mark smile at his gesture and he clears his throat. He hands Mark his kimbap and watch him swiftly unwrap it.

“Thank you again, really.” Mark smiles. “ I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Jinyoung stiffens visibly at Mark’s friendly smile and remark, but nods anyway. Mark has a nice smile. “If you insist.”

They both look at each other for a minute before a thought popped into Mark’s head. “Hey, do you know your way around here?” Jinyoung nods. “Do you think you could maybe show me around sometime? I’ve only been here for two weeks and I haven’t really made any friends yet, so I was hoping maybe—“ Mark is speaking way too fast for Jinyoung’s liking, so he cuts him off.

“Give me your phone.” Jinyoung holds his hand out. Mark looks down at it before slowly pulling his phone from his pocket. He hands it to Jinyoung and watches him type something in with deft fingers. He hands it back to Mark. “You should really put some kind of password on your phone.” He advises Mark. Mark looks at his screen and sees he has a new contact: Jinyoung Park. He looks up, only to see Jinyoung walking away from him. “Call me when you’re ready to see the city.”

Mark smiles to himself and walks out of the store too. He looks down at the kimbap still in his hand before practically shoving the whole thing into his mouth in one bite. He isn’t sure if it was the fact he might have made a new friend or what, but Mark thinks that this is the best triangular kimbap he’s ever had in his life.

As Jinyoung walks away from the convenience store, kimbap in hand, he thinks about Mark. Mark is starting to make Jinyoung feel things he hasn’t felt in a really long time. Jinyoung actually thinks Mark is kind of… cute. He’s really cute actually, and Jinyoung really hopes that Mark calls him soon.


	2. September 28, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Mark is currently having an internal conflict and it’s a very dire situation that need a solution as soon as possible.

Should he text Jinyoung? He said to call… Maybe he should call. Would that be weird if he calls him instead of texts him? Maybe he should just forget about the whole thing and go about his day. But Jinyoung did promise to show Mark around the city… He really wants to see the city. Okay, so he’ll call him. Mark presses the call button before he can have any second thoughts about what he’s doing, and tries not to seem awkward as he listens to the phone ring in his ear.

“Hello?” Jinyoung answers with an annoyed tone. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to call after all. He seems like he’s not in the best of moods. It’s not too late to hang up…

“Uh, hey, Jinyoung. It’s Mark.” Mark says anyway, awkwardly.

“Oh.” Jinyoung’s voice perks up, surprised. “You called.”

“Yeah, well, you said to call, so I did and I figured you’d want me to call instead to text you because you… said… to call.” Mark says quickly, but slows down when he realizes how he probably sounds. It might come off to Jinyoung that Mark spent a lot of time debating over whether he should call or text him. Which he did, but Jinyoung doesn’t need to know that.  


Mark hears Jinyoung chuckle from the other end of the phone and feels a little relieved at the magical sound. Jinyoung finds Marks awkwardness kind of charming. “So, is this you asking me to show you around then?” He questions.

“Yeah. Are you free today? If not, we can always reschedule.”

“Today’s fine. When do you want to do this?”

“Well, I’m not doing anything at the moment…” Mark says, suggesting that they can go now.

“Sure, let’s meet at that store.” Jinyoung replies, bringing up the convenience store where they first met.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Alright.” He hangs up. Maybe Jinyoung’s not the type of guy to say goodbye after a phone call. Pushing that thought from his mind, Mark quickly gets up from his place on the couch and freshens himself up a little. He doesn’t want to look like a slob in front of someone who could potentially be a friend. He doesn’t want to push Jinyoung away or anything.

After that, he picks up his phone again and decides to call his father. Although Mark is more than capable of looking after himself, and is old enough for his parents to not worry too much about him and his actions, he wants to let them know he might not be at home when they return from work this evening, depending on how well he gets along with Jinyoung. The phone rings a few times before Mark hears his father pick up. “Hello?”

“Hey, dad.” Mark says.

“Hey, Mark. What’s up?”

“I was wondering if it was okay if I went out today. I think I made a new friend and he’s gonna show me around. I mean, only if it’s okay with you though.” He makes clear.

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine. But what do you mean you _think_ you made a friend?”

“Well, I only met him a few days ago and he doesn’t seem to really talk much or be all that open, so I’m not really sure if he’s showing me around because he wants to be friends or if he’s keeping me around because I owe him a few bucks.” Mark scratches his head, but shrugs to himself. “I’ll keep you updated. Anyway, if I don’t go now, I’ll be late. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, have fun. Bye.”

“Bye.” Mark hangs up and swiftly pulls on his shoes before darting out the door. He practically runs all the way to the convenience store. When he gets there, Jinyoung is just walking up. He looks at Mark but doesn’t make any sort of expression. Jinyoung isn’t one to just open up to anyone. He has to size Mark up first. Mark attempts to catch his breath before approaching him.

“Hi.” He greets Mark.

“Hey.” Mark responds. They look at each other for a minute. “Are you hungry?” Mark asks him.

“I guess so.” He nods. Mark motions towards the store. 

“How about something to go? I finally have some money.” He tells Jinyoung. Jinyoung nods at Mark and they go in. Mark gets them some spicy ramen and makes it in the back, and soon they’re on their way around the city.

“So why’d you move here?” Jinyoung asks Mark.

“My mom got a new job, so our family moved all the way here to Korea. It’s just us three though. Me and my parents.” Mark responds. Jinyoung nods thoughtfully. “How long have you lived here?”

“My whole life.” He replies simply. Mark nods. It isn’t awkward between them, but it was quiet as they ate. They both seem to be either lost in thought or searching for something else to talk about. “Those guys you were talking to that day at school… Are they your friends?” Jinyoung inquires. Mark’s relationship with those other foreigners is very important.

“You mean that Chris guy?” Mark questions.

“Yeah.” Jinyoung looks at Mark.

“No, that was the first day I had ever talked to him.” Mark responds.

“What did he say?”

“He was just saying that people don’t really accept foreigners at that school. He told me to stick with him and he’d help me.” Mark shrugs as he slurps up the last of his noodles. “But I can handle myself, I think. Besides, you seem to be okay with me being a foreigner.” He looks at Jinyoung. He nods and looks away from Mark. As long as he has nothing to do with those other guys, Jinyoung is fine with Mark not being from Korea.

“Are you an only child?” Mark asks suddenly.

Jinyoung hesitates. He slowly nods though. “Technically.”

“Technically? What do you mean?”

“I have a stepbrother, but we’re not close.” He tells Mark.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“He ruined my life anyway.” Jinyoung says under his breath. Mark stayed silent though. He doesn’t know if he should get involved in that just yet. It doesn’t seem like Jinyoung meant for him to hear that. “So, uh, are we in the same year?”

“I think so. Senior?” Mark asks.

“No, I’m a Junior, actually. Fitting, right?” Jinyoung chuckles and Mark joins in. “I just want time to pass by a little faster. Once I graduate, I’m gonna live with my mom.” Jinyoung tells Mark. Mark’s actually kind of surprised that Jinyoung seems to be opening up to him so easily. They’ve only just met, but it’s like he’s a different person. It makes Mark happy seeing him like this. It makes him feel more comfortable.

“That’s really nice. So you live with your dad then?” 

“Yeah. I only get to see my mom on the weekends. I wish I could see her more.” Jinyoung shrugs and looks down at his feet. “Sorry, I don’t really know why I’m telling you all this. We just met.” He laughs a little. He tries to dispel the awkward feeling growing in the pit of his stomach at his sudden realization.

“I don’t mind. It makes me feel good. Like you’re confiding in me or something.” Mark smiles. Jinyoung returns it. Mark really does have a nice smile, but so does Jinyoung.

“I guess I kind of am. It’s nice. Most people find me intimidating, so it’s refreshing that you’re comfortable around me.” He grins again. 

“Well, I’m really glad. I hope we can become really good friends.”

“Me too.” Jinyoung nods. In a weird way, he kind of feels free being with Mark like this. It feels really nice. This feeling prompts him to take things a little farther in their brand new friendship. “Hey, I know this is kind of a weird question but, would you want to walk home with me on Fridays since we walk the same way anyway?” 

Mark looks at him before answering. “I don’t think it’s weird. Let’s do it. You’re my only friend anyway, so I’ll spend as much time with you as I can.” He laughs. Mark swears he saw Jinyoung blush, but before he can really be sure, Jinyoung’s facing away from him. 

In fact, Jinyoung is blushing. Mark just told him he wants to spend as much time with him as possible. Who wouldn’t blush at that? He desperately attempts to hide his pink cheeks as he continues walking along with Mark.

“Well, we could hang out at school. You could hang out with my friends and I. You’ll definitely have no problems if you stick with us.” Jinyoung suggests to Mark, still not looking at him. Maybe if Mark joins his group, he won’t be tempted to join Chris.

“Yeah, totally. That sounds really cool.” Finally, someone who seems to like Mark and who he can feel okay around. Maybe things aren’t so bad after all. Things seem to be starting to look up.

They wander around Seoul aimlessly all day, but it’s a lot of fun for the both of them. Neither Mark nor Jinyoung know if they’ve ever had this much fun before. To make things even better, they don’t know if they’ve ever gotten along with someone else like this in a long time. Jinyoung’s really making today great for Mark, and Mark’s doing the same for Jinyoung.

“Hey, wanna check out the mall? It has everything you’ll ever need in there.” Jinyoung suggests as they pass a park full of screaming children. Mark tears his eyes away from the kids to respond.

Mark looks at him excitedly. “Uh, yes! I’ve been looking for a mall since I got here!” 

“It probably doesn’t compare to malls in California, but it’s cool.” Jinyoung says as they walk down the street towards downtown. 

They were soon making their way into the grand building that is the mall. Jinyoung watches Mark walk a little bit ahead of him as they enter the building. He really seems like such a cool person, but he’s making Jinyoung feel things he hasn’t felt in a long time. He really doesn’t know what to do. He’s not sure if he should fight these feelings or not.

“Jinyoung, let’s go over here!” Mark says excitedly as he points in another direction. He starts going that way and Jinyoung follows after him at a distance. It feels like they’ve been friends for a long time even though today is the first day they’ve ever hung out. It’s very out of character for Jinyoung to just let someone in like this, but he kind of likes the idea of having someone like Mark by his side. Someone so kind and pure.

“Mark?” They suddenly hear a voice. Both Mark and Jinyoung stop in their tracks and turn towards the voice only to see a guy with a big smile on his face as he stared at Mark.

“No way! JB! Bro, how are you?” Mark approaches the guy he calls JB. Jinyoung recognizes him though. It’s Jaebum Im.

“What in the world are you doing in Seoul?” He asks Mark happily as they give each other a hug.

“I actually just moved here for my mom’s new job.” Mark tells him. Jinyoung crosses his arms as he watches them talk. He’s not jealous. He just doesn’t like Jaebum, that’s all. “Oh, by the way. This is my new friend Jinyoung. Have you ever met before? I know Seoul’s a big place, so maybe you haven’t.”

Jaebum and Mark turn towards Jinyoung and the smile slides right off of Jaebum’s face. “Junior.” He says dryly. Jinyoung expects something else, something a little more rude, but it never comes. He just gives Jinyoung a judging glare. I guess Jaebum doesn’t want Mark to realize what he’s really like.

“We do know each other.” Jinyoung says as he looks at Jaebum. Neither of them flinch as they stare each other down. It isn’t until Jinyoung hears a familiar voice call Jaebum’s name that he tore his gaze away from him.

Walking up from behind him was none other than Yugyeom and his best friend Youngjae, accompanied by Jackson, one of Jaebum’s friends. Jinyoung balls his fists in frustration at the sight of his stepbrother. He’s the last person he wanted to see.

“Oh, Junior.” Yugyeom bows to Jinyoung after he spots him. Jinyoung doesn’t return it though, and even Mark must know that’s a sign of disrespect. He feels Marks eyes on him as he stood there, glaring. Mark starts to feel very awkward at this sudden development.

“Hey, show some respect to your younger brother.” Jaebum steps towards Jinyoung, trying to intimidate him.

“He’s not my brother.” Jinyoung uttered flatly.

“Uh…” Mark starts, awkwardly. “Hey, JB, it was nice talking to you, but I think Jinyoung and I should go.” Mark steps between the two, wanting to stop the fight before it happens. Jinyoung feels really grateful to Mark. He doesn’t feel like fighting with Jaebum right now.

“Oh, alright. Can I at least get your number?” He asks Mark. Mark nods and they exchange numbers. Jinyoung really doesn’t enjoy the idea of Mark talking to someone like Jaebum, but he can’t really dictate what Mark does. At least not yet.

“See you later. It was nice seeing you again.” Mark says before grabbing Jinyoung’s wrist and quickly pulling him away from everyone. Once they were a good enough distance away, he stops them both and lets go of Jinyoung. “What was that all about?” He seems concerned.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” He tells Mark. “Maybe I should go now.” He suggests without much motion shown in his face or words. Mark was silent as he searched Jinyoung’s face for something.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” He nods, disappointed that their fun day was coming to a close so early. Jinyoung nods in response. “I guess I’ll see you at school then.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Mark responds. Jinyoung turns away from him and starts walking towards the nearest exit. He really doesn’t want to leave Mark, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to let his anger out on him. With that thought in mind, he maked his way back home.

Jinyoung walks inside the house and his mother pokes her head out of the living room. “Hey, honey.” She gives him a bright smile, but Jinyoung can’t return it. He’s just feeling… Sad. First it was pure anger, but now he’s down in the dumps after leaving Mark like that. His mother quickly realizes that something’s up and questions him. “What’s wrong?”

He kicked off his shoes and went into the living room to sit next to his mother on the couch. He lets out a large sigh before speaking. “I met someone the other day.” He told her. “He’s… really nice.”

“Oh, it’s a boy?” She asks. “Does this mean—“

“It doesn’t mean anything.” Jinyoung says fast. “I just think he’s cool, that’s all… I think.” He furrows his brow.

“Jinyoung.” His mother calls his name. He looks at her and her eyes soften. “You know, it’s okay to like him.” She tells him, but he just can’t accept it. He doesn’t want to be in this position.

“It’s wrong to think that another guy is attractive, mom. You don’t understand. Besides, I just met the guy. I don’t want to make him run away just because I find him attractive.” Jinyoung tells her. She lets out a sigh.

“You sound just like your father. You remember what he said to you, don’t you? Now you sound just like him. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

Jinyoung shakes his head at that word. “Don’t say that. I’m not… I don’t like guys, okay?” He looks at her pointedly. “I can’t like them. There has to be something I can do to stop this. It’s unnatural and—“

“It’s who you are. Stop trying to fight it. There are a lot of people out there that are like you.” She tries telling him, but he isn’t having it. He just can’t accept this. He can’t.

“Please, mom. You’re the only one I can turn to with this. I need you to help me.” He begs her. She looks at him for a minute before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into her. It was silent for a moment.

“Tell me about him.” She says suddenly. Jinyoung pauses.

“Well, his name is Mark. He’s from America. He moved here because his mom got a new job. He lives with his parents and his younger brother. He really likes malls too, and really has an appetite for spicy ramen.” Jinyoung chuckles as he thinks about when Mark asked him for some of his noodles when they were walking around the city. “He’s really nice and doesn’t seem intimidated by me, which is really great.” He tells her. “I don’t know what it is about him, but I want to be good friends with him. It was weird today. I actually started talking to him. Like, I told him about things some of my own friends don’t know.”

“You did?” His mother asks, surprised.

“Shocking, right?” Jinyoung replies. “I almost couldn’t believe it myself.”

“Then, he must be pretty special.” Jinyoung knows what she’s getting at, but he doesn’t want to talk about that anymore. He stays silent and closes his eyes as his mother strokes his hair lovingly.

“I love you, mom.” He whispers.

“I love you too, Jinyoung.”

At the same moment Jinyoung is spending with his mother, Mark is on the phone with Jaebum.

“Mark, why were you hanging out with Junior today?” JB asks over the phone. Mark had decided to call him since they hadn’t gotten to talk much earlier.

“I told you, he’s my friend. He’s the only one that’s made an effort to be nice to me at that godforsaken school.” Mark replies with a sigh.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but that’s not the Junior I know.” JB tells Mark seriously. “I’m telling you, that guy is bad news. He’s not who you think he is.”

“What do you mean?” 

“You go to school with him, right? Watch closely next time you see him.” He warns. Now Mark’s curious.

“I think he’s just a little misunderstood.” He tries to reason with JB. The Jinyoung he hung out with earlier doesn’t seem bad. In fact, he seems like a great guy. He wasn’t very talkative at first, but it was easy for him to open up to Mark, and that makes him really happy.

“Whatever, just make sure you watch out, okay?” He seems to be concerned for Mark and that makes him smile.

“Hey, what are you doing? Going all soft on me? You used to be the toughest eight year old I knew.” Mark laughs.

JB chuckles along with him. “I’m still tough, don’t get the wrong idea. I just care about my friends.” He says.

As their laughter dies down, Mark speaks up. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why was Jinyoung acting like that towards his stepbrother?” Mark inquires.

“Ah, so you know they’re not related by blood.” JB realizes. “It’s a long story, but I guess a long time ago Yugyeom used to be one of Junior’s best friends, but his dad was cheating on his mom with Yugyeom’s mother… and I think you can figure out the rest. His dad married that woman and he hasn’t been the same since, I guess. That’s what I heard, at least. I don’t think we’ll ever know the full story, though. He doesn’t talk about that stuff with anyone.” He tells Mark. “He doesn’t really talk to anyone in general, which is why I’m a little surprised you were with him.”

“Yeah, well, today was actually the first time hanging out. I met him on Friday.”

“How’d you become friends?”

“I was hungry on my way home from school and stopped by a store, but didn’t have any money, so he offered to buy me something. Then I asked him if he could show me around sometime, and we exchanged numbers.” Mark shrugs although JB can’t see his gesture. “I mean, he wasn’t mean to me or anything.”

“He paid for your food? What the hell?” JB’s in shock. Mark laughs. 

“Hey, let’s go get some food.” He hears on the other end, but it isn’t JB speaking.

“Okay, sure.” JB responds to the voice. “Hey, Mark, I’ll talk to you later, okay?” 

“Yeah, talk to you soon. Bye.” Mark replies.

“Bye.” He hangs up. Mark can’t help but think about what JB just told him about Jinyoung. There’s definitely a lot that Mark doesn’t know, but he’s willing to dig deeper to get to know Jinyoung better.


	3. September 29, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

6:00 a.m. is way too early to get up in Mark’s eyes. Waking up at the buttcrack of dawn isn’t how he wants to start his day. Mark instantly regrets not taking a shower the previous night as his alarm blares in his tired ears. “Damn it.” He curses to himself. “Why is school on Monday a thing?” He asks himself quietly, scratching his head tiredly. But Mark supposes that if school started on a Tuesday, people would start hating that day just as much—if not more—than Monday.

Although he’d much rather stay in bed and sleep for fifteen more minutes, he drags himself out and trudges towards the bathroom. As he exits his room, he's met by the sound of his parents running around to get ready for work. 

"Well, well. Look who's up. I don't think you've ever woken up this early, Mark. Not even as a baby." Mark's father chuckles as he sips on what must be coffee from the strong smell it's giving off.

"Too early." Mark mumbles like a zombie. His father lets out another hearty laugh and pats his son firmly on the shoulder as he passes by. Mark continues down the hallway and soon comes upon the bathroom. He quickly goes in and locks the door behind him. The last time Mark forgot to lock the door, his brother walked in and there was screaming involved. He shivers at the horrible memory and quickly starts undressing.

He showers quickly and is soon wrapping himself in a towel while simultaneously trying to plug in his mothers blow-dryer. He dries his dyed blond locks in record time, and is soon waddling out of the bathroom back towards his bedroom.

While Mark dresses himself, he thinks about the day to come and wonders if he'll see Jinyoung. That brings a smile to Mark's face. He really likes Jinyoung. He's really looking forward to seeing him today, and keeps that thought in the front of his mind as he grabs his backpack and exits his house to start walking to school.

Unlike Mark, Jinyoung was still asleep at six this morning. See, Jinyoung is smart and took a shower the night before, just like Mark wished he had done. He’s also not afraid to be late to school since he’s been going there for three and a half years so far. The worst they’ll do to him is give him a stern talking to about why it’s _imperative to be on time._ Besides, it doesn’t take Jinyoung very long to get ready.

He finally rises at 6:50 a.m. exactly to the smell of breakfast. This is what Jinyoung loves about coming to stay with his mother. She cares enough to make him a big breakfast before school on Monday. A smile makes it’s way onto his face as he tiredly walks out of his bedroom and towards the kitchen. He’s greeted by the sight of his mother—fully dressed for work—with an apron over her clothes. She was flipping the final pancake over in the pan she had on the stove.

“Smells good.” Jinyoung spoke up. His mother turned and greeted him with a bright smile.

“Good morning, lazybones. Sleep well?” She questioned. Jinyoung responds with a quick nod. He walks to the cupboards and pulls out cups, plates and silverware. The table was soon set and his mother slipped her apron off. Both her and Jinyoung piled their plates high with food and sat down to eat. “So, are you looking forward to school today?”

“I guess so.” Jinyoung shrugs

“Are you gonna see Mark today?”

Jinyoung stops chewing his food and thinks for a minute. Unknowingly, a faint smile forms on his lips. “Maybe. We don’t have any classes together, I don’t think.”

“What about at lunch? Will you see him then?” She asks.

“If we have the same lunch period. I haven’t really thought to ask though.” He shrugs. “Don’t worry about it though. We only met the other day.”

“I know, but you already seem to be getting close with him. I just don’t want him to misunderstand you.” His mother tells him worriedly.

“Mom, really. Everything’s fine, okay? We’ve just started our friendship.”

“Are you going to tell him you’re—“

“No.” Jinyoung cut her off. “He doesn’t need to know that.” His mother doesn’t say anything else. She just nods at her son’s answer. He seems pretty set on it anyway. “I should probably go get ready now.” Jinyoung says, getting up. He puts his plate and silverware into the sink and leaves his mother to finish her breakfast.

Jinyoung cleans himself up and quickly dresses. Thanks to his mother, he can’t stop thinking about Mark. It’s just the excitement of making a new friend though, right? When you meet someone new who’s really cool, you want to spend a lot of time with them. That’s all it is. Nothing more. With that thought in mind, Jinyoung jogs out the door and starts his short walk to school.

As Jinyoung is just leaving, Mark is just arriving at school. He admits he’s a little early, but better early than never, right? Mark’s aware that’s not the correct expression, but who gives a damn anyway.

Mark enters the school without incident, passing by familiar and unfamiliar faces on his way. He debates on whether or not he should go to his locker, and finally decides to go and get an extra notebook just in case. He’s been here for two weeks and he’s already almost filled one five-subject notebook with notes. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

Mark walks up to his locker and carefully turns his lock according to his combination and finally gets it open. He quickly shoves everything he needs inside of his backpack and then closes his locker. He pivots on his heel to start going towards class. That’s when he spots Jinyoung entering the school.

A smile made it’s way onto Mark’s face and he starts walking down towards his new friend. Mark watches as people start following Jinyoung and he figures they must be his friends. They follow him towards some guy Mark had seen around before. He thinks his name is Kunpimook. 

But something feels a little off about all of this to Mark. His smile slowly slides off his face and he stops in his tracks as he trains his eyes on Jinyoung and Kunpimook. He can’t hear what they’re saying since he’s too far away, but he definitely sees when Jinyoung punches Kunpimook right in the stomach. Mark freezes and stares as he watches his one and only friend beating up some poor, defenseless nerd.

After Jinyoung seemed to have his fill of beating that kid up, he gives his cronies a nod and they finish the job for him. Mark can’t believe his eyes as he see’s Jinyoung smiling.

“What did I tell you?” Mark hears from beside him. He turns to see Chris with a grim look on his face. He met mark’s eyes. “It’s dangerous here, Mark, and that guy is the start of all the problems.”

“B-but… Jinyoung…” Mark whispers to himself.

“Stay away from him.” Chris walks away. No matter what Mark does, he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from the scene before him. He watches as Jinyoung and his friends laugh and walk away from the kid, who is now crumpled to the ground. Mark doesn’t hesitate to run over the the kid and kneels before him.

“Are you okay?” Mark asks. Kunpimook looks up timidly.

“Wh-what?” He asks.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to escort you to the infirmary?” Mark questions.

Kunpimook stared at him for a minute. “No, I’m okay.” He forces a smile. “I don’t want to put you in danger for helping me.”

“Don’t worry about that. Jinyoung wouldn’t hurt me.” Mark says confidently, although he’s not so sure anymore. This has to be all some kind of misunderstanding. “Come on.” Mark helped Kunpimook up. “I’m Mark, by the way.”

“I know.” He replies. “I’m Kunpimook.”

“I know.” Mark smiles. Kunpimook finally smiles too. Him and Mark soon find themselves in the nurses office, and Kunpimook is getting his wounds treated.

“You’re lucky nothing more serious besides a couple of scratches happened when you took that tumble down the stairs. You could’ve broken a few bones.” The nurse says sternly. Kunpimook had lied right through his teeth to her. Mark doesn’t exactly agree, but he supposes everyone deals with things their own way.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Mark bows deeply to the nurse.

“No problem, but stay safe. Got it?” She makes clear. Mark can tell by her tone that she knows it wasn’t just a fall down the stairs. Mark and Kunpimook both nod and Mark helps him limp his way out of the infirmary.

They go down the hallway and then stop to rest for a minute. “Thanks for helping me, Mark.”

“It’s really no problem at all. If you ever need any help, I’ve got your back.” Mark smiles.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. Well, I should probably get to class now.” Kunpimook says tiredly. Mark nods and is just about to let him go when Jinyoung and his group rounds the corner.

Jinyoung walks casually, but then stops when he sees Mark and that new kid. Is Mark… helping him? “What’s going on?” Jinyoung questions as he approaches them.

Mark looks at Jinyoung with a defiant expression on his face. “Why’d you do that to him, huh? I saw the whole thing and ran to his rescue afterwards.” He says, a hint of anger lacing his tone. Jinyoung, instead of retaliating, shrinks back a little.

Jinyoung’s friends and Kunpimook are surprised. The big, tough bully is scared of Mark? No. It’s not that Jinyoung is scared, he just doesn’t want Mark to look down on him. Somehow, Mark sees this in Jinyoung’s eyes and sighs.

“Jinyoung, I know this can’t be you. The guy who did this can’t be the same guy who I hung out with this weekend.” Mark points out. “Please tell me this was all just a misunderstanding.” Mark begs.

Jinyoung really doesn’t want to make Mark sad, so of course he nods in agreement. “Just a misunderstanding.” He smiles at his friend. Mark seems to trust Jinyoung a little too much, because he smiles back.

“Good. Now we should all get to class or we’ll be even more late than we already are.” Mark says. Kunpimook and Jinyoung nod at him. 

“You go ahead. I have to get something from my locker.” Kunpimook swallows hard, trying to hide his nervousness from Mark. 

“Me too.” Jinyoung agrees.” 

“Alright. See you guys later.” They both watch as Mark grins one last time before turning away to walk to his class. Once he rounds the corner, Jinyoung glares down at Kunpimook.

“If you run to Mark one more time, you won’t see the light of day again. Don’t think that just because he’s my friend that he can talk me out of giving you a piece of my mind, kid.” Jinyoung spits at Kunpimook, who trembles in fear. “Watch out. The next time I see you is the next time you’re due for another beating.”

Jinyoung walks away with his crew trailing behind, leaving Kunpimook trembling and scared. He really feels like he has nowhere to go and nobody to turn to. “Hey, you okay?” Kunpimook hears a voice. He turns and sees three guys. They seem pretty intimidating to him.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” Kunpimook stutters.

“Jinyoung is an asshole.” Chris tells him. “I’m Chris, this is Jordan and Josh. We’re here to help, so don’t be afraid.” He smiles at Kunpimook.

As all of this is happening, Mark is sitting in class, satisfied with himself. He’s glad he stopped Jinyoung from hurting Kunpimook anymore. Although he saw Jinyoung do those horrible things to Kunpimook, he doesn’t think he’s a horrible person. Mark recalls what JB had told him that one night over the phone. The thing about Jinyoung’s family. Mark feels bad, and figures that Jinyoung’s homelife must be pretty hard. He even told Mark about wishing he could live with his mother and about his stepbrother and everything. Jinyoung really seems to trust Mark. Maybe if Mark sticks around, he can change Jinyoung for the better. He hopes, at least.

Suddenly, Mark feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He discreetly pulls it out and looks as it under his desk.

_Wanna have lunch together?_

It’s a text from Jinyoung. Mark smiles to himself and quickly types a reply.

_Of course. Where should I meet you?_

Jinyoung replies speedily.

_Outside. Under the big maple tree on the hill._

Mark smiles to himself at Jinyoung’s response. The hill, huh? It’s pretty secluded up there.

Jinyoung stares at his phone, not expecting a response, but hoping Mark will meet him. He can’t help but think that this is another great opportunity for them to be alone. Jinyoung and his group’s spot is under that tree, but today he told everyone he wants some space. Really, he just wants to spend some time with Mark so he doesn’t get the wrong idea about him.

So when lunch came around, Jinyoung quickly made his way up to his spot under the tree, only to find Mark already there. He’s sitting against the trunk with his eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin. Jinyoung can’t help but admire how truly handsome Mark is. As much as Jinyoung hates to admit it, Mark is cute. Very cute. But no matter how hard he tries, he still can’t bring himself to admit what he knows he is. Not after the day he first realized it.

“Hey, you sleeping on me?” Jinyoung calls out to Mark as he starts walking towards him again. Marks eyes open slowly and he lets out a yawn.

“If you had waited another minute, I would have been.” Mark chuckles. Jinyoung settles himself right next to his friend and looks up at the partially cloudy sky just as the sun hides behind a big cloud. Jinyoung pouts at that.

“Just as I came out, the sun decides to hide away.” He notices.

“It’s okay. It’ll be out again soon.” Mark looks at Jinyoung.

“I brought some triangular kimbap if you want some. I had some at home so I decided to bring it in case you wanted some.” 

“Just for me? That’s really nice of you.” Mark grins widely. He proceeds to grab a package of kimbap and sit up against the tree before opening it. He then shoves the whole thing into his mouth and chews it slowly.

“Jeez, hungry much?” Jinyoung teases. Mark tries to laugh but instead starts to choke. Jinyoung pats his back roughly and then rubs it as Mark swallows his food. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m okay. I guess I got a little lazy with chewing.” He chuckles. 

“Hey.” Jinyoung starts. Mark looks at him. “I want you to tell me all about you.”

“All about me? I’m a pretty boring person though…” Mark trails off. 

“That’s okay.”

“Okay. In return you have to tell me all about you then.”

“Sounds like a deal.” Jinyoung nods, smiling.

“What would you like to know about first?”

“Mm, tell me about your childhood in America.” Jinyoung leans back agains the tree trunk again.

“Well, I had a pretty standard childhood, really. I went to a normal elementary and middle school. I played at recess. I had friends. I mean, I was—and still am—a pretty average guy. There’s nothing really that special about me.” Mark admits with a shrug.

“Did you leave a girlfriend behind in California?” Jinyoung asks suddenly.

“No.” Mark laughs. “The last time I had a girlfriend was when I was like twelve.” Jinyoung smiles at Mark, relieved for some reason. “What about you? When was your last girlfriend?”

Jinyoung suddenly swallows hard. “Uh, actually, I’ve never had one.” He admits. Mark sits up and stares at Jinyoung with big eyes.

“You’ve never had a girlfriend? But you’re so handsome? Why haven’t you had one?” Mark presses.

“I’m just not interested in girls around here.” Jinyoung says slowly. It’s not exactly a lie. Mark nods.

“Yeah. I understand. But there are some pretty girls around here.”

Jinyoung nods slowly. “I guess so. I’m not looking for a relationship right now though.”

“Same here.” Mark relaxes back.

For a while both of them are silent, and it’s nice. They don’t feel any pressure to speak to one another. They’re able to just sit back and relax. They feel safe with one another despite everything that had happened earlier. That’s especially important to Jinyoung. He’s finally found someone besides his mother who he can trust this way and he’s really happy about it.


	4. October 17, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Jinyoung leans against the side of the school building as he waits for Mark. He watches as people pass by him, coming out of the school at a steady pace. Today’s a nice day for October. The cool temperatures of autumn seem to have yet to reach Seoul. The leaves have just began to change color from vibrant greens to yellows, reds and oranges. The sight makes Jinyoung very happy, and he really starts looking forward to his walk home with Mark.

“What’re you smiling about?” Jinyoung hears. He looks to his left and sees Mark looking at him curiously.

“Nothing, come on.” Jinyoung starts to walk and Mark tries to catch up with him.

“What’s wrong?” Mark asks. He’s a little concerned. He and Jinyoung have spent almost everyday together since they became friends and _now_ he seems to be guarding himself around Mark? He’s never just dismissed a question like that. It just doesn’t make sense. They’re practically best friends now. Jinyoung should have confidence in Mark and be able to tell him anything.

Jinyoung lets out a sigh. “My mother. She wants to invite you and your parents over for dinner tonight, but I told her no.” Jinyoung tells Mark.

Mark grabs Jinyoung’s arm, stopping them both on the sidewalk. “What? Why’d you do that? We’d love to come over for dinner.” Mark claims. This means he’ll get to see a new side of Jinyoung he has yet to discover. Maybe a gentler, cuter side, and Jinyoung’s already pretty cute to Mark. He’ll get to see Jinyoung interact at home with the one person he loves the most in the world.

“No, come on. Don’t do this. She’s gonna be a pain if you guys come over.” Jinyoung pouts at Mark, and Mark thinks he looks absolutely adorable like that.

“No, you come on. I’m telling my parents that my _very lovely_ friend Jinyoung invited us over for dinner tonight at his mother’s house.” Mark bats his eyelashes and Jinyoung rolls his eyes, attempting to hide how fast his heart is beating.

“No.”

“Please.”

“No, stop asking.”

“Please, Jinyoung.” Mark begs.

Jinyoung lets out an exasperated sigh. “ _Fine_. You tell your parents and I’ll tell my mom. You owe me.”

“ _I_ owe _you_? Aren’t you the one asking me to come over?” Mark teases.

“Yes, but you somehow convinced me to endure what’s to come. And my mother’s not expecting it because I told her you weren’t coming over earlier.”

“I hope your mom brings out old picture albums.” Mark squeals excitedly. "I bet you were the cutest little kid ever.”

“This is exactly what I was talking about having to endure.” Jinyoung sighs again. “Why would she bring out picture albums anyway? Isn’t that something parents do when they meet your girlfriend for the first time?”

“Or boyfriend, depending on which way you swing.” Mark adds casually. Jinyoung’s eyes dart around nervously, avoiding Marks like the plague. He knows that Mark didn’t mean anything by that comment, but it still makes him nervous. He doesn't want to scare Mark away, after all.

"Anyway, be at my mom's house at six, got it?" Jinyoung makes clear.

"Sure thing." Mark grins. "Is it like... Formal?"

"Why would it be formal?" 

"Well I don't know. Maybe your mother's a fancy woman. I don't know her.” Mark shrugs.

"You're an idiot. Just wear anything, alright? And don't be late because I'll lock you out if you are." Jinyoung teases.

"No you won't." Mark chuckles.

“Whatever. Meet me at my house. With your parents. At six. I’m leaving you now. Bye.” Jinyoung turns away from Mark and speedily walks away.

“Should I bring dip or something?” Mark shouts at Jinyoung’s retreating back. Jinyoung sighs and spins around only to see Mark jogging to catch up with him.

“No, Mark. Don’t bring dip. Please don’t bring dip.” Jinyoung begs his best friend.

“What about—“

“No. Stop. Don’t bring anything besides yourself and your parents. Now leave me alone.”

Mark grins. “Okay, party pooper. I’ll see you later. By the way, you have a sighing problem!”

Jinyoung ignores Mark’s comments and cuts down his mother’s street, quickly jogging towards the house. It’s 3:45 p.m. right now and he only has two hours and fifteen minutes to get ready. He’s internally panicking because everything has to go perfectly. It just has to.

He storms into the house and flings his backpack to the ground as soon as he gets in the door. “Mom!” Jinyoung shouts. His mother pokes her head out of the living room.

“Hi, what’s wr—“

“Mark and his parents are coming over for dinner tonight and everything has to be perfect so I’ll need you to make everything for dinner as fast but as amazingly as you can.” Jinyoung said with one breath. His mother stares at him for a moment, trying to process what’s going on. “I have to shower. You go make stuff. They’ll be here at six.” He runs upstairs, leaving his mother lost and confused.

“I guess I’ll get started then.” She mumbles to herself, getting up to go to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Jinyoung is literally simultaneously ripping off his clothes and getting into the shower. He pays no mind to his soaked socks as he takes them off hurriedly. He scrubs himself down in record time and rushes to his room to get dressed.

“I have nothing to wear. What am I gonna wear?” Jinyoung asks himself as he stares at his extensive collection of designer clothes. He starts pulling out anything he thinks might look good without seeming like he spent a very long time on himself. Which he most definitely will.

After exactly one hour and twenty three minutes, Jinyoung has finally decided on black jeans and grey _stud muffin_ t-shirt. Yeah, he knows he probably has the worst fashion sense in the entire world, but hey, it’s better than what he would’ve worn if Mark and his family weren’t coming over.

“Jinyoung!” His mother calls up the stairs at him.

“What, mom?” He asks, pulling his shirt over his head.

“Your friend and his parents are here.”

Jinyoung freezes. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?” They’re here already? Did he really spend that long in the shower? Or maybe he spent to much time picking out his clothes. As he thinks about all of this, his arms become trapped inside of his shirt, struggling to put it on before finally succeeding. He rushes down the hallway and stops right before the top of the stairs to catch his breath for a minute or two, then proceeds to walk down casually.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mark. Jinyoung has told me so much about you.” Jinyoung’s mother was already shaking Mark’s hand happily. He’s going to have to keep an eye on her tonight. She’s a little too eager to see her son’s new friend and his family.

“Thank you for having us over. Jinyoung talks a lot about you too.” Mark smiles. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while now, but Jinyoung never invites me anywhere.”

“Hey, you two talking about me?” Jinyoung asks when nobody pays attention to him. He looks at Marks parents and bows deeply to them. “Hello, I’m glad you could come tonight.” 

Marks parents shake Jinyoung’s hands. “I think it was about time we all met. Mark’s always going on and on about you. I think it’s because you’re his only friend here.” Mark’s father chuckles lightheartedly.

“Just because he knows that he’s my only friend doesn’t mean you can just tell him like that.” Mark sulks and pouts. Jinyoung thinks he looks adorable like that. 

“It’s okay. I have tons of embarrassing things to tell you about Jinyoung to make up for it!” Jinyoung’s mother exclaims happily.

“Please don’t.” Jinyoung whines. “Let’s just go eat.” He walks past everyone and towards the dining room. He seats himself on one side of the table. Mark seats himself right next to Jinyoung, smiling at their proximity.

“Do you have any embarrassing nicknames you call Jinyoung so I can use them against him?” Mark asks as everyone starts making their plates.

“Why would you ask that?” asks Jinyoung.

“I wish I did, but the only thing’s we ever call him are Junior and Jinyoungie.” Jinyoung’s mother explains, ignoring her own son.

“Jinyoungie! How cute!” Mark claps happily. Jinyoung rolls his eyes and picks up his chopsticks.

“Kill me.” He whispers to himself, but he’s secretly giddy. The thought of Mark calling him something so cute made his heart race.

“You know, you two get along really well. I’m actually pretty surprised. And I’m surprised that you’re such a good kid, Mark. Jinyoung doesn’t exactly hang out with the best crowd, so I’m glad he’s found a good boy like you.” His mother says suddenly. Jinyoung looks over at Mark, who looks down at his plate.

“Yeah, I don’t really like his friends either.” Mark forces a smile. “But I’ll try and bring him back from the dark side.” Mark makes a joke out of the situation that happened only a couple weeks before with Kunpimook. Jinyoung squirms in his seat uncomfortably when he feels Mark’s eyes on him.

Suddenly, Jinyoung’s mother’s phone rings, breaking the tension between them and turning the attention towards her. Jinyoung looks over at her. “Oh.” She gets up and answers the phone. “Hello? Oh, yeah. Alright. Sure thing. You’re here now? Sure, come on in. Mhm. Bye.” She hangs up the phone.

“Who was that?” Jinyoung asks, but doesn’t get a response before the from door opens. The last person he ever would have expected walks right into the dining room. When Jinyoung sees him standing there, he stands up. “Dad.”

Jinyoung’s father looks around the dining room with a sour expression. “You forgot this.” He tosses Jinyoung his phone. “I wouldn’t have bothered coming over here if I knew what was going on here.” He spits.

Usually when something like this happens, Jinyoung just takes it. But he can’t just let his father walk all over him in front of Mark. Especially since he’s indirectly talking about Mark too. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you disgust me.” His father claims.

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that. I didn’t invite you in so you could bully him.” Jinyoung’s mother yells.

“You’re the reason he’s this way. If you hadn’t been so soft with him he would be a real man.”

Mark stares at Jinyoung and his parents, unsure of what’s going on. What’s he talking about?

“There’s nothing wrong with my son.” His mother shouts. “Maybe if you were a better father, you’d be able to realize that he’s good kid.”

“Mom, please stay out of this. It’s between me and him.” Jinyoung says, his voice shaky. Mark shifts in his chair uncomfortably as he watches Jinyoung push his mother behind him. “If you don’t have anything nice to say to me, you can leave.”

“Well you can leave my house then. You’re always whining about how you want to live with your mother, so live with her. I don’t want a faggot for a son living under the same roof as me anymore. You can spend time with your little boyfriend now.” He spits at Jinyoung.

“There’s nothing wrong with him being gay. Why can’t you just accept your own son?” His mother asks.

“He’s not my son. He’s a disgrace.”

“I hate you, you know that? I never understood why you even bothered with the custody battle because you feel the same about me. You’d choose Yugyeom over your own blood.” Jinyoung shouts.

“Of course I would choose him over you. He’s not an embarrassment to me.”

“All I ever wanted was a real father who wasn’t a liar and a cheater and such an intolerant bastard. But all I ended up with was you. You’re a deadbeat and I’ve always hated you.” Jinyoung spits out.

“Then I’m glad we’re on the same page, because I think the same about you. Don’t you ever show your face around me again.” His father threatens.

Jinyoung stares at his father, trying desperately to hold back the tears that are beginning to form in his eyes. He doesn’t want to show him weakness. Not now. Not after what he just said. All he’s ever wanted was for his father to accept him. Obviously that’ll never happen. So Jinyoung turns away and goes up to his room, leaving everyone in a tense silence.

“Come and get his stuff soon. If you don’t get it in the next two weeks, I’m giving it away.” His father says flatly. He leaves and Mark looks at Jinyoung’s mother.

“Can I go see him?” He questions quickly.

“I’m not sure if he’ll see you now, but you can try.” She sighs as she sits down. Mark hears her apologizing to his parents as he heads up the stairs. He goes to the only closed door and knocks quietly. “Jinyoung?” No reply. “Hey, can I come in? Let me talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Please. I won’t go until you let me see you.”

“Go away.”

“Jinyoung—“

“Will you just leave already? Go away, I don’t want you here.” He hears Jinyoung yell. Mark decides maybe it’s best to give Jinyoung a little space for now. Although he’s upset and a little heartbroken, he turns to leave. He makes his way downstairs to his parents and Jinyoung’s mother.

“I don’t think he’s really in the mood to talk right now.” Mark says dejectedly. “We should go. Thank you for dinner.” He bows to Jinyoung’s mother, who smiles sadly.

“I’m sorry for everything. I hope you’ll continue to support my son. He’s always had a hard time with his father. He’s never really accepted Jinyoung.” She sniffles. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Don’t apologize…” Mark comforts her.

“After the divorce and everything, he started resenting his father, and then he… well, came out to him and he didn’t take it very well. His father keeps planting these messed up thoughts in his mind, making him think that being gay is wrong. It’s not, you know? I just don’t want him to hate himself because he’s a little different.”

That makes Mark think. This makes so much sense. Along with everything he heard from JB, he understands why Jinyoung is the way that he is. He understands why he’s so defensive and why he feels like he needs to bully people. It’s all because of his father and Mark hates that. He wants to help Jinyoung. He wants to fix him, but he’s not sure if Jinyoung will let him in now.

Jinyoung listens through the thin walls as his mother tells his best friend the truth about him. He can’t help himself when fresh, hot tears stream down his face. It’s been a while since he’s cried and it really feels horrible. Everything he didn’t want to happen has. He feels like he has nothing now. He feels completely lost.

“I’ll be back soon to talk to him.” Jinyoung hears Mark say. After he hears the door close, he listens to the sound of his mother’s footsteps come up the stairs and towards his bedroom door. She silently stops before his door and tries to jiggle the handle, but it’s locked.

“Honey…” She sighs. The sound of her broken voice only makes Jinyoung cry harder. He’s the source of everyone’s problems it seems, and that feels pretty crappy.


	5. October 19, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Jinyoung hasn’t been able to sleep since Friday. Not even then, actually. Thursday night is probably the last time he’s really rested. It’s starting to take a toll on him, not only mentally and emotionally, but physically. He can’t seem to find the strength to roll out of bed or eat or anything, really. He definitely can’t find the strength to look at his phone. Mark’s been calling him nonstop since that night, but Jinyoung just can’t answer. He’s too depressed right now. The one thing he wanted to keep a secret was let out. What if Mark thinks differently of him now? What if he thinks Jinyoung likes him now? It’s not necessarily wrong, but still. So he just let his phone die. Now all of Mark’s calls will be going straight to voicemail.

“Jinyoung.” He hears his mother outside of his room door.

“What?”

“There’s someone here to talk to you.” She says.

Jinyoung starts getting increasingly nervous. What if it’s Mark? “If it’s Mark, tell him I’m not here.” Jinyoung replies weakly. Suddenly his bedroom door opens, but it’s not Mark who’s standing behind his mother. It’s _Yugyeom_. “What do you want?” Jinyoung immediately spits out.

“Watch it. He’s just here to talk to you. Apologize right now.” His mother says sharply.

“…Sorry.” Jinyoung says hesitantly.

“It’s okay.” Yugyeom nods and enters Jinyoung’s bedroom further. “Can I speak to him in private for a minute?” He turns towards Jinyoung’s mother and she nods with a smile.

“If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs.” She leaves them and it takes a while for either of them to speak up.

“What do you want? Say it.” Jinyoung says roughly.

“I just… wanted to see if you were okay.” Yugyeom responds. Jinyoung snickers. “I heard about what happened. Your dad wouldn’t stop talking about it.”

“Of course he wouldn’t. He’s an asshole that feeds off of others’ pain.” Jinyoung says sharply. “And I don’t need you worrying about me now.”

“I’m here for you, if you need me. I—“

“I don’t need you. I never will.”

“Look—“

“No, you look. I don’t know what you think this is, but it’s not your chance to try and get close to me again. You lost that privilege a long time ago.” Jinyoung spits.

“Can you listen to me for a minute? I don’t understand why you’re so set on thinking this is all my fault. I’m not the one who _made_ your father cheat on your mother. I didn’t cause their divorce. I didn’t turn you gay.” Yugyeom yells suddenly. “None of this is my fault. I just want you to realize that and realize that I still think of you as one of my best friends. I think of you as a brother, Junior. I want to be able to help you through this. Don’t listen to what your father has to say, okay? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with who you are—“

“Don’t you try to tell me what’s wrong and what’s not, okay? You may think of me as an older brother or a friend, but I definitely don’t think of you like that. You’re nothing but a nuisance in my life and I wish you’d just leave me alone. You’re a problem, your mother’s a problem, my father’s a problem. All of you are problems, so stay out my my life, got it?” Jinyoung shouts back. Yugyeom is stunned into silence. He’s not sure what to say. This is the first time Jinyoung has really ever expressed his feeling towards him directly. 

“I’m not giving up on you, no matter what. You’re only saying these things because you’re going through a rough time.” Yugyeom reasons.

“God, give up already, will you?”

“I won’t.” Yugyeom renews his confidence. “I’ll be back some other time when you’re feeling better. Rest up and I hope you eat well.” He bows to his stepbrother. Yugyeom exits Jinyoung’s room and goes downstairs only to be met by Jinyoung’s worried mother.

“I’m so sorry about him…” She starts to apologize, but Yugyeom smiles and shakes his head.

“It’s okay. He’s only being defensive because he’s hurt. I’m not taking what he says too personally. I’ll be back anyway.” Yugyeom tells her. She nods with a smile. With that, Yugyeom leaves.

He slowly walks down the street, thinking about what just happened. Jinyoung looked really horrible back there. He must be beating himself up about what happened. Especially since it was in front of Mark. It’s pretty easy to tell how fond Jinyoung is of Mark. After everything that’s happened, he bets they haven’t spoken at all. He’s probably worried about what Mark will think. Even though Yugyeom hasn’t ever really talked to Mark, he knows he’s not one to just stop being friends with someone because of that. Maybe he should talk to Mark… Maybe he can get through to Jinyoung.

Yugyeom decides to head over to Jaebum’s house. He’ll know how to get a hold of Mark. So yugyeom speeds over as fast as he can. Once there, he lets himself in. He’s met by Jaebum, Jackson and Youngjae.

“Hey, Yugyeom. What’s up?” Youngjae asks with his usual bright smile.

“Jaebum.” He ignores his best friend and makes a beeline for Jaebum. “Do you have Mark’s phone number?”

“Hey, don’t ignore me.” Youngjae frowns.

“Yeah, I have it. Why do you need it?” Jaebum sits up on the couch.

“I need to talk to him. It’s about Jinyoung.” Yugyeom says.

“…Alright. Here.” Jaebum pulls his phone from his pocket and taps a few things on his screen before handing Yugyeom his phone. “He might not answer if it’s a stranger calling him so here.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” Yugyeom takes Jaebum’s phone into another room and quickly calls Mark. The phone rings a few times before someone picks up.

“Hello?” Mark answers, sounding pretty dejected.

“Mark? Uh, hi. This is Yugyeom, Jinyoung’s stepbrother.” Yugyeom says.

“Oh.” Mark perks up. “Hi.”

“Um, I know this is a little strange but… do you think we can meet somewhere? I need to talk to you. It’s about Jinyoung.”

“Yeah, of course. You can come to my house. JB will give you the address.” Mark says quickly.

“Okay, thank you. I’ll see you soon.” Yugyeom hangs up.

Mark stares at his phone for a minute before he gets up and starts cleaning a little. He starts to wonder what Yugyeom wants to talk to him about. Has he talked to Jinyoung? Did he mention something about Mark? Yugyeom must have heard about what happened from Jinyoung’s father. Mark can’t help but replay that scenario in his mind.

Jinyoung looked so hurt and disappointed. He realizes now why Jinyoung used to be a bully. His father probably never made things easy for him. Mark recalls how Jinyoung’s mother said his father planted those horrible thoughts in his mind about who he is and he can’t stand to think that Jinyoung is so insecure. Mark never wants to see Jinyoung look so hurt like that ever again. He wants to help build his confidence and make him realize it’s okay to be like that. It is…

Mark picks up his phone and tries calling Jinyoung once again. “The number you have dialed—“ Mark hung up as he gets Jinyoung’s voicemail again. He let’s out a sigh. He desperately hope’s he’s okay. He shoots him another text instead.

_Please please please please call or text me Jinyoung. Please. I need to talk to you._

He doesn’t really expect a response, but he has one small shard of hope left that Jinyoung will actually read his message and call him back. But after five minutes of nothing, Mark gives up. He really should just go over to Jinyoung’s house, but he wasn’t sure if he should at first. He had thought that maybe that was a little too much right now for Jinyoung, but now Mark realizes that if he doesn’t go there to see him, he might never again because he’ll just shrivel up and die in his bedroom.

As these thoughts go through Mark’s head, Yugyeom knocks on his front door. Mark quickly perks up and opens up the door for his visitor. “Hi. Come on in.” Mark says accommodatingly.

“Thanks.” Yugyeom walks inside and looks around. “Nice place.”

“Thanks.” Mark nods. “So… What was it you needed to talk to me about?” Mark starts nervously. “It’s about Jinyoung, right? Is he okay? Have you talked to him yet?”

“I went to see him earlier, yeah.” Yugeyom nods. “He… Looks really horrible to be honest. Like he hasn’t moved in days. I tried to talk to him about what happened but he just kicked me out.” Yugyeom shrugs. Mark lets out a sigh.

“What an asshole. And for no good reason either. Doesn’t he realize that he has people around him that care about him? He’s acting like the world is over.” Mark groans and plops himself down on the couch. Yugyeom does the same.

“To him, his world is over. It’s pretty bad at home. Even though his dad doesn’t want to believe that Junior’s gay, he still brings it up all the time and bullies him about it. It’s not right, but what can I do? I can’t try and stick up for him. His father wouldn’t have it and neither would he. He’s hated me ever since our parents got married.” Yugyeom eyes Mark. Mark eyes him right back.

“Why? I understand hating his father, even him hating your mother, but you? What’ve you ever done to him?”

“We used to be really close before everything. We went to the same school and even though we’re in different years, he became my friend. He saved me from bullies quite a few times actually. I felt like I owed him a lot after that. I really looked up to him. I still do. But ever since everything went down, he hasn’t been the same. He’s become so nasty.” Yugyeom looks down at his hands sadly.

“But his father took him out of private school, started talking down to him. I think that’s why he’s a bully. He learned it from his father. And I learned it from him.” Yugyeom’s volume quiets during this last sentence. So Jinyoung’s influenced his younger brother to be a bully too? “He takes a lot of anger out on me too.”

“I’m so sorry.” Mark apologizes although he has nothing to do with the situation. “I’ll make sure this never happens again. I have to put an end to it all. It’s not healthy for Jinyoung. It’s not healthy for the people around him either.”

“So you’ll go talk to him then?” Yugyeom asks expectantly. Mark nods firmly.

“In fact, I’m going right now. He can’t avoid me forever.” Mark stands suddenly and Yugyeom copies him. “I’ll put in a good word for you too, Yugyeom.”

“Thank you.” Yugyeom smiles. Mark returns it. “I’ll be on my way then.”

“Me too. Let me get your number, actually so I can update you.” Mark hands his phone over and Yugyeom swiftly types his contact information in. 

“I’ll see you later.” Yugyeom walks out of the house before Mark and goes in the opposite direction. Mark turns and starts almost jogging to Jinyoung’s house.

When he gets there, he doesn’t even bother knocking. He barges right in, met by Jinyoung’s surprised mother. “Mark?” She asks.

“I’m going upstairs.” Mark informers her determinedly. She just nods and gets out of his way. Mark marches right up the stairs and goes to the end of the hallway to the closed door he’s been to once before. But this time, he doesn’t bother knocking. Mark opens the door up, met by a sleeping Jinyoung.

He stomps over to his best friends bed and pulls his sheets off of him, revealing his pajamas. Jinyoung stirs a little and when his eyes open, they land on Mark and widen. “M-Mark.”

“Get up.” Mark says.

“What are you doing here? Get out!” Jinyoung shouts.

“No. Get up. Stop being a cry baby and let’s go do something.” Mark replies. Jinyoung pauses for a minute. Do something?

“W-what?”

“Do you know how absolutely bored I’ve been without you around? I literally can’t stand it anymore. I have to get out and do something or i’ll go crazy. So get up.” Mark responds. “But shower first, because you probably haven’t taken one since Friday.”

“You… Want to hang out with me?” Jinyoung’s eyes look so big and confused as he gazes at Mark.

“Of course I do, dummy. You’re my only friend. Scratch that, my _best_ friend. How am I supposed to do anything without you?”

“You still want to hang out with me even though I’m…” Jinyoung trails off, still unable to say the words he’s thinking.

“You’re an idiot if you think I wouldn’t like you because of that. It doesn’t matter to me if you like boys, girls, or lettuce. It’s all the same.” Mark says.

Jinyoung’s eyes start filling with fresh tears and Mark’s heart twangs. But then Jinyoung smiles. He’s been waiting for what seems like ages for someone other than his mother to accept him for who he is. The fact that it’s Mark makes everything that much better.

“Okay, I’ll be ready in a minute. I’ll go shower and then get dressed.” Jinyoung smiles, wiping his eyes. Mark grins.

“I’d give you a hug, but you smell.” He pinches his nose and Jinyoung rolls his eyes.

“Whatever, just go wait downstairs, will you?”

“Sure. Don’t take too long though. The mall only has so many open hours.” Mark sings as he makes his way out of Jinyoung’s bedroom.

As Jinyoung watches Mark leave, he smiles wider than ever before. Everything he was beating himself up about seems so small and childish now compared to this feeling of euphoria Mark has just given him. He feels kind of free in a way. Mark knows about Jinyoung but he still wants to be friends. He even wants to hang out. If Jinyoung is dreaming, he never wants to wake up.


	6. October 19, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Jinyoung comes out the bathroom, steam following him down the hallway towards his room. He feels very refreshed and awake after that. He’s very happy Mark decided to come over and knock some sense into him, but he knows the reason he came over wasn’t because he was _bored_. Jinyoung’s too smart for Mark’s antics.

He reaches his bedroom and sighs when he realizes he has to find an outfit to wear. “Really?” He asks himself in a whisper. It’ll take at _least_ an hour to find anything. Jinyoung is very particular about what kinds of bad clothes he wears.

He starts his search anyway, clad in only his underwear. He pulls things out of his closet and puts things back. He tries things on and takes them off. Jinyoung really, honestly can’t decide on what to wear. Before he’s even realized it, it’s been thirty minutes and he’s still mostly naked.

“Jinyoung! What the hell are you doing up there?” Mark shouts up at his best friend. He’s growing restless now. “If you don’t come down in three seconds, I’m coming up there.”

“No, don’t come up. I can’t find anything to wear.” Jinyoung shouts back. That’s it for Mark. He knew Jinyoung was particular about his clothes, but not _this_ particular. Mark gets up from his place on the couch next to Jinyoung’s mother and runs up the stairs. Before Jinyoung can protest, Mark is entering his room. “Why the hell? Get out?” Jinyoung covers himself and turns away from Mark.

Mark’s eyes trail down the back of Jinyoung and observe his _very nice_ back muscles. They trail even further and land right on Jinyoung’s butt. Wow, his butt is really nice. It’s like really round and nice. Mark just wants to—

“Are you gonna leave or not?” Jinyoung shouts again. Mark’s eyes snap up to the back of his best friend’s head.

“Just relax. I’ll find you something decent to wear.” Mark responds, snapping out of the trance Jinyoung’s behind put him in. He went to his closet and pulled out a simple shirt and pair of jeans. Nothing fancy. He laid it on the bed and patted Jinyoung’s bare shoulder. Jinyoung shuddered at Mark’s cold hands. “Put these on and come downstairs. I’m not waiting forever.”

“Yeah, just go.” Jinyoung says. After he hears his door close, he turns around and lets out a breath of relief. That was both exhilarating and embarrassing. He just wants to forget about that. He pulls the clothes Mark picked out for him as fast as he can and then went downstairs. Mark was sitting next to Jinyoung’s mother, just talking.

“You ready?” Mark asks.

“Yeah.” Jinyoung responds. He looks at his mother. “I’ll be back later.”

“Alright, but take your time, please.” His mother says sweetly. Jinyoung waves at her as him and Mark exit the house and start walking towards the mall. It doesn’t take them very long, fortunately.

“Mm, smells like mall food.” Mark stretches his arms over his head happily as he and Jinyoung step into the mall. Jinyoung looks around at the large amount of people there today. Civilization. “Where do you want to go first? Or do you want food before we shop?” Mark asks Jinyoung.

“We can shop first.” Jinyoung replies simply. Mark nods and they both start off in the same direction. “Even though we’ve been here a lot together, we’ve never actually bought anything besides crappy Chinese and that flask you thought your dad would like.”

“True, but it doesn’t hurt to just look around without buying anything.” Mark shrugs. “Besides, it’s just nice getting out. Like I said before, I was bored without you all weekend.”

“Sure.” Jinyoung smiles. “That’s the reason you called me so many times and sent so many texts, right?” He questions.

“Hey, if you actually saw that I was calling and texting you, why didn’t you respond?” Mark asks. “Don’t you know that’s rude?” He pushes Jinyoung’s shoulder playfully.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I guess I was just scared to face you, that’s all.” Jinyoung says. Mark nods understandingly. He opens his mouth to say something in response to Jinyoung, but is soon cut off by a girl who approached them.

“Hi.” She says shyly to Mark and Jinyoung.

“Oh, hi.” Mark smiles.

“Um, I-I just saw you walking and… I think you’re really cute.” The girl blushes at Mark and JInyoung starts growing jealous. “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to hang out sometime.” She looked down at her feet and twisted around cutely. Jinyoung clenched his teeth and fists alike. He just got his best friend back. He doesn’t need this girl stealing him away now.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m actually gay.” Mark says suddenly. Jinyoung’s head snaps towards Mark and he’s not really sure what to think. He’s stunned, to say the least.

“Oh.” The girl looks disappointed. Her eyes meet Jinyoung’s though. “Is this your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.” Mark grabs Jinyoung’s hand without hesitation and intertwines their fingers. Jinyoung’s still very, very stunned, but that word really doesn’t do his current state any justice. “Jinyoungie and I are very happy together. Isn’t that right?” Mark smiles at Jinyoung, but Jinyoung can’t smile back. He can only nod in response to Mark’s lie. 

“I’m sorry to bother you two then. Sorry.” The girl bows.

“Don’t be sorry! We can still be friends.” Mark smiles at her.

“Really?” She sounds hopeful.

“Of course. Here, give me your number. We can hang out sometime.” Mark says. The girl eagerly jumps at this offer and soon her and Mark are exchanging information.

“Thank you, Mark! I’ll call you soon.” The girl smiles and blushes at Mark, calling him his name according to his contact.

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Minsoo!” He grins, doing the same. Jinyoung and Mark both watch as she walks away. As she goes out of sight, Mark lets go of Jinyoung’s hand. “Alright, what were we doing before that?” He asks.

“What the hell was that? Don’t you think it’s a little too soon to be doing things like that?” Jinyoung spits. Mark’s taken aback at his sudden change in mood.

“What are you—“

“Just because you know that I’m… doesn’t mean you can just use it when you’re in a sticky situation.” Jinyoung glares, suddenly angry at Mark for using him.

“Jinyoung, no. It’s not like that.” Mark shakes his head quickly, realizing what Jinyoung’s thinking. “I really am gay.”

Jinyoung stares at Mark for a minute, his anger slowly disappearing and being replaced with confusion. “What?”

“I’m gay. I like guys.” Mark responds.

“What?” Jinyoung asks yet again.

“I thought it was obvious. I mean, that’s why I’m fine with being your friend even if you are gay, first off. Secondly, I’m from California, man. That should’ve been the first red flag.” Mark points out.

“You’re…” Jinyoung is confused. Did Mark just… Come out? Right here? In the middle of the mall? “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You never asked.” Mark shrugs. “It’s not like I was trying to hide it or anything. I’m pretty open about it, but I don’t go around parading the fact that I’m gay.”

Jinyoung stares at Mark for a minute before dropping his head into his hands like he suddenly got a migraine. “It’s way too soon for all of this.” He sighs. “So you knew how much I was suffering but still kept it a secret?”

“This is about you, not about me.” Mark tells Jinyoung. “It’s not like you would have felt better knowing I was gay.”

Jinyoung stares at Mark incredulously. “You’re an idiot. Of course I’d feel better! That would have meant I had someone like me to comfort and help me.” He pushes Marks shoulder and he stumbles a little.

“Ouch. That kind of hurt.”

“You’re not very smart, are you?” Jinyoung asks.

“I think you’re rubbing off on me.” Mark teases. Jinoyung shakes his head. “Does it bother you that much?”

“No, it doesn’t bother me. Obviously it doesn’t bother me.” Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “Wow, you’re incredible, Mark Tuan.”

“I know.” Mark nods, not wanting Jinyoung to elaborate because he’s about one hundred and _ten_ percent sure he’s being sarcastic.

“I don’t even want to go shopping anymore.” Jinyoung crosses his arms.

“Jinyoungie, come on.” Mark smiles.

“Please _do not_ call me that. My mother lied when she said she calls me that. It’s not true. It will never be true, so just let it go.”

“Never.” Mark grins. He loops his arm around Jinyoung’s waist, but Jinyoung brushes him away.

“People from school might see us and think we’re dating.” Jinyoung whispers quickly, blushing.

“So? Who cares?” Mark asks, attempting to put his arm around Jinyoung again. Jinyoung pushes him away.

“Stop.” Jinyoung gives Mark a pointed look. 

“So then you’d be fine with this if we weren’t in public?” Mark teases again.

Jinyoung might as well stop living his life and become a tomato because he resembles one more so than he does a human at this point.

“I’m leaving.” Jinyoung pouts and turns away from Mark, stomping away.

“Wait! I wanted to buy my mom a flask this time!” Mark runs after Jinyoung. “Why are you being so sensitive about this?”

Jinyoung stops and faces Mark. “Are you really asking that? I mean, were you even paying attention to everything that’s happened? _First_ , you find out my deepest secret, then you drag me out of my house _even though I didn’t want to go anywhere with you_ , and then you come out to me _in the middle of the freaking mall_!” Jinyoung yells at Mark.

Mark blinks at Jinyoung for a few seconds before breaking out into laughter that sounds very similar to that of a hyena. Instead of being amused like Jinyoung usually is at the sound of Mark’s very strange yet very enchanting laughter, he’s annoyed. How can Mark laugh at such a serious situation.

“You’re not taking this seriously. Will you please stop being so childish?” Jinyoung raises his voice.

“Come on, this is my last year of high school. Let me live.” Mark retorts playfully, definitely not taking anything to heart.

“Whatever.” Jinyoung crosses his arms and looks away from his best friend.

“Aww, look. Someone’s pouting! Looks like it’s time for ice cream! If you stop pouting, I’ll buy.” Mark smiles, bringing his facer closer to Jinyoung’s just to make him even more mad.

“Fine, but I’m getting the most expensive ice cream known to man. I hope you brought more than fifty thousand won.” Jinyoung brushes past Mark, making sure to push him on his way past. Mark chuckles at Jinyoung’s childish behavior and follows after him.

"By the most expensive ice cream you mean chocolate, right? That's your favorite." Mark says as he catches up.

"How did you know that?" Jinyoung's a little surprised.

"You get it every time we get ice cream. I know you, Jinyoungie." 

"We've only been out for ice cream like two times, you creep."

"You know you like it." Mark laughs. Jinyoung's not sure if he should punch Mark or blush.

"I'm gonna fight you." Jinyoung threatens half-heartedly.

As the two of them exit the mall, Mark looks over. "Hey, speaking of that, I need to talk to you about something."

Oh great.

"You haven't... Done that to other people before, right?" Mark asks.

"Done what?" Jinyoung plays dumb.

"Have you _beaten up_ other people?" 

Jinyoung looks down at the ground for a moment. "I... Yeah." 

"Like who?"

"Anyone who's ever gotten in my way." Jinyoung looks Mark right in the eyes. Mark frowns.

"Have you done that to Yugyeom?"

"Why are you bringing him up?" Jinyoung questions.

"Because I told him I'd put in a good word for him. He's a good kid, okay? I think you're starting to rub off on him from what I've heard. And that's not a good thing."

"Whatever. It's his choice what he does, it has nothing to do with me." 

Mark sighs and looks at Jinyoung again. "But you've stopped all of that, right?" Mark asks.

Jinyoung nods without hesitation. Of course he feels bad for lying to Mark, but he has to be believable. He can't stop doing what he's been doing. It's all he knows. He's been keeping it from Mark for this long so it's not that bad.

"Okay, good." Mark let's or a relieved breath and smiles. "Now let's go get some ice cream."


	7. October 28, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Ever since Junior's been kicked out of his dad's house, Yugyeom's felt a little lost. He doesn't know what's going on with him and he can't help him. He's honestly been worried sick about his older brother. To try and get his mind off of everything, he's been spending a lot of time with Youngjae and Jaebum at Jaebum's house. Of course Jackson is usually there too.

The fun atmosphere really helps Yugyeom let loose and forget about all of his worries. It's really nice that Jaebum took him and Youngjae in like he did. He claimed that he wanted to save Yugyeom from being like Junior, but little did he know that Yugyeom was beyond the point of no return.

It's not like Yugyeom wants to be this way. He doesn't want to hurt other people, but he does. It's kind of like he's transferring all of the pain and suffering that Junior has caused him to other people. When he beats on the small and defenseless, it makes him feel powerful and in control, something that he doesn't feel when he's around Junior.

At this moment, Yugyeom is closing in on some poor kid. He kind of feels sorry, but he really needs to let out all of his pent-up emotions.

"If you look at me the wrong way one more time, I swear I'll--"

"Yugyeom." He's cut off suddenly when he hears the shaky voice of his best friend. Yugyeom turns and meets Youngjae's pleading eyes. "Stop."

"Stay out of it. If you don't like it, leave." Yugyeom spits.

"No! You need to quit it and stop being so much like Junior." Youngjae musters up the courage to yell back. Yugyeom realizes that this must be serious to him. He only yells when it's serious.

Reluctantly, Yugyeom lessens his grip on the kid, and Youngjae sends him off to class, running down the hallway. Now it's his turn to grab Yugyeom by the front of his shirt and drag him into the boys' bathroom.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you told me you'd stop doing this?" Youngjae raises his voice. Yugyeom stays silent. "How many times are you gonna lie to me before you finally change and stop pretending you're Junior?"

"I'm not Junior, okay?" Yugyeom finally speaks up. He stares right into Youngjae's eyes. "What else do you expect me to do then? Huh?"

"I don't know, talk about it like a normal human being? You can't go around hurting other people just because that's what he did to you. It's not healthy."

"What do you know?" Yugyeom retorts harshly.

Youngjae softens at his best friend's defensiveness. "I know that this isn't you. I know that you're a good person."

Yugyeom hangs his head. He doesn't want to get emotional, but that's where things are heading.

"I just want him to trust me, you know? That's all I want." Yugyeom wipes his eyes frantically.

"I know, Gyeom. I know. How about we skip the rest of the day and go to Jaebum's. He didn't go today either." Youngjae suggests with a smile. Usually you'd never hear anything like this crossing his lips, but today's different.

Yugyeom gives Youngjae a smile and nods. "Yeah, let's go." They both exit the school as classes are going on. It doesn't take them long to sneak off of the premises and start walking towards Jaebum's.

On the way, the just happen to pass Junior's school.

"I never did understand why his dad took him out of private school." Youngjae thinks aloud.

"It's because he didn't want to waste money on a son he's ashamed of. It's like he doesn't want Junior to succeed." Yugyeom responds.

"That's messed up."

"Yeah, it is." Yugyeom nods. "Hey, um..."

"What is it?" Youngjae asks curiously.

"Recently some things happened. Remember what I told you about? How Junior's dad made a scene at Mark's house?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Junior's gay. That's why his dad hates him so much."

"What? He's gay? Are you sure?" Youngjae's eyes were wide with doubt. "He can't be..." 

"Yeah, he is. But don't tell anyone, I don't want him to hate me more than he already does." Yugyeom says nervously. 

"He doesn't hate you, he's just a little... Confused. He can't blame you for what happened, but he does because who else can he blame? You're right there." Youngjae speaks, trying to make his best friend feel a little better. 

Yugyeom shakes his head. "No, Youngjae, he hates me. I've tried to explain to him that it's not my fault that his dad cheated on his mom with mine. It's not my fault they got married." He goes on. "I just want him to accept me like I accept him. I'd tried telling him there's nothing wrong with being gay, but he keeps shutting me out. I want the old Junior back. The one who would come to my house when I was eleven years old and play Pokemon with me, argue over which video game to play, all of that. I want him to treat me like a younger brother instead of trash." 

Youngjae looks at Yugyeom with a sad expression. It really hurts him that his best friend feels this way. "I knew you wanted his acceptance, but I didn't know you felt like this." He pats his Yugyeom's back. "Don't you feel better went you let it out?" He questions.

Yugyeom nods. "I feel a little better... But let's talk about something else now." 

"Okay. Well, we're almost there now. I wonder if Jackson's there?" Youngjae inquires.

"JB!" They suddenly hears a loud voice from all the way down the street. The two boys look at each other and then chuckle.

"Of course he's there. Is that even a question? They do everything together." Yugyeom grins. The two quickly make their way to Jaebum's house and enter without knocking or anything. They just waltz right in and meet their friends.

"Hey, is school already out?" Jaebum asks when he spots them. He looks down at his watch and then back at the boys questioningly.

"No. It's been a rough day so we decided to skip and come over." Youngjae says.

Jackson and Jaebum's eyes go wide. "You, Youngjae Choi, skipped school? _Willingly_?" Jackson asks in disbelief.

"He's the one who suggested it." Yugyeom tells him with a small smile.

"Is the world ending? What's going on?"

"Like I said, it was a rough day." Youngjae elaborates.

"Why? What happened?" Jaebum asks. He looks between the two and spots their uncomfortable expressions. "Gyeom, you weren't..."

"Cut him a little slack." Youngjae starts.

"You can't keep doing this. How long is this gonna go on for? Before you know it, you'll be just like Junior." Jaebum starts.

Yugyeom's mood sours, just like his expression. "So what if I become like him? He's not a bad person." 

"Open your eyes. He's not a good person either."

"You don't know anything about him, okay? You don't know what's been going on lately."

"What then? What's been going on? Enlighten me." Jaebum says in a sarcastic way.

"Junior got kicked out." Yugyeom starts. "His dad hates him and humiliated him in front of Mark. I don't know if Mark got through to him thought." 

"What? How did he get humiliated? And I thought I told Mark to stay away from him..."

"He... Revealed some sensitive information in front of Mark. Something that Junior's not proud of. The day I used your phone to call Mark was when I met with him, remember? I asked him to talk to Junior for me."

"Why? Mark's a good guy. He doesn't need to be around someone like that."

"He's the only one that Junior trusts. He lets him in and tells him his problems. He really likes Mark and I think he's the only one that'll be able to get through to him."

Jaebum sighs and looks straight at Yugyeom. "If he hurts him, it's on you. It's on both you and him. Mark's a good person, and if he gets hurt, you're taking the blame too."

"I understand." Yugyeom nods.

"You guys are being way too serious." Jackson cuts in. "Let's hang out and play some games for a while, then after school lets go out so we can go eat." Jackson grins.

"That sounds like a good idea to me!" Youngjae adds, putting his arm around Jackson happily. So they spend a few hours forgetting about their previous arguments and having a good time. Everyone feels at ease.

It's not long before they all become hungry though, and they decide to head out to get some food. On the way, they see an unexpected sight.

Jaebum stops in his tracks when he sees Mark and Junior. They look like they're having a lot of fun. There's a light in Junior's eyes that Jaebum is sure he's never seen before.

They all slowly walk towards the convenience store that Mark and Junior are going towards, watching their interactions. 

Mark is _feeding_ him. He's smiling and happy and they're messing around. It's just _weird_. They seem so close that it's taking Jaebum aback.

"Oh." Mark suddenly looks up and sees Jaebum, Yugyeom and two other people he's not so sure he's met before. "Hey, JB." He uses his free hand that isn't shoving peppero into Jinyoung's mouth to wave to his old friend.

JB waves back with a smile. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asks.

"We always come here after school because I'm a bottomless pit." Marks smiles. "Who are these two? I've met Yugyeom before."

"This is Jackson, my best friend, and Youngjae, Yugyeom's best friend." 

"Nice to meet you." Mark happily shakes their hands. Jinyoung looks away uncomfortably. He doesn't want to be around them.

"Jinyoung." Mark says suddenly. "Yugyeom's here."

Jinyoung reluctantly looks at his stepbrother. "Hello." He says to him. There's not much emotion in his words, but that's better than spitting at him disgustedly. 

It's obvious that Yugyeom wasn't expecting this. He looks surprised but happy. He smiles suddenly. "Hi, Junior."

"See, it wasn't that bad, was it?" Mark bumps Jinyoung's shoulder and Jinyoung looks over at him. He puts his arm around Jinyoung's shoulders and grins. "You guys coming in?" He asks everyone. They nod and all pile into the store. Mark goes off to snatch up as much spicy fried pork kimbap as he can, leaving Jinyoung with everyone else.

Suddenly his expression turns nasty. "Just because Mark made me be civil towards you doesn't mean I like any of you. You should stay away from us. Especially you, Jaebum. Don't even think a bout coming around Mark anymore."

"Who are you to tell me who I can't hang out with?" Jaebum steps towards Jinyoung.

"I'm his _best friend_. He'd pick me over you any day." Jinyoung hisses. "Watch your back, Im." He walks off towards Mark, helping him pick out snacks and forgetting about Jaebum and Yugyeom, and their friends.

"He has some serious issues." Jackson says suddenly.

"Let's just go. I don't feel like fighting today." Jaebum sighs. "We'll get food somewhere else." They all exit the store and Jaebum can't help but worry about Mark. He knows that his relationship with Junior will eventually end and something bad will happen to Mark. He doesn't want that to happen, so he promises himself that he'll do everything in his power to help his friend.


	8. Bonus: October 31, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not an actual chapter, just a bonus behind the scenes one.

"You know we'll never find anything in here, right?" Jinyoung points out flatly as Mark drags him into Emart to look for last minute Halloween costumes for Jaebum's party tonight. "Besides, I don't even want to go tonight. Jaebum doesn't like me."

"Shh." Mark shushes Jinyoung. "First of all, we will find out matching costumes. Secondly, JB won't be mean to you if I'm around. You'll be fine." Mark smiles. Jinyoung groans and follows Mark to the _Couple's Costumes_ section.

"There are like three things here and most of them have been ripped open and have had things stolen out of them." Jinyoung says.

"God, stop being such a downer." Mark says. "Everything will be fi--ah! Look! We can be Superman and Wonder Woman! You'll be Wonder Woman since you have a better figure..."

"What the hell? No!" Jinyoung pushes Mark's shoulder.

"Batman and Catwoman?" Mark suggests.

"No."

"Well then what about Cowboys? We can wear assless chaps!" Mark laughs loudly, finding the situation extremely funny. Jinyoung, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of amused. He's more annoyed than anything. "You're such a party pooper." Mark says, grabbing the last two cowboy costumes.

"Let's just buy these and go." Jinyoung sighs, starting to get a headache.

"You're no fun." Mark pouts. If you're like this at the party, I'm leaving you at JB's."

"You wouldn't dare..."

"Try me."

Jinyoung sees the challenging look in Mark's eyes and sighs in defeat. "Okay, you got me. Let's just go buy them now."

A few hours later, both of the boys are, unfortunately, standing in Jaebum's kitchen with red cups full of _who knows what_. Mark is definitely enjoying himself as he starts heading towards the living room to dance with some random people.

"Hey, Jinyoung! Dance with me!" Mark shouts over the loud music playing.

"I can't, I have this still." Jinyoung holds up his cup, still full of alcohol.

"Down it. Come on." Mark laughs, obviously having a good time. "Let loose, dude."

"Let loose..." Jinyoung says to himself. He nods suddenly and chugs down his drink as quickly as he can, feeling the buzz hit him almost instantly. He lets Mark grab his hand and lead him into the center of the large crowd of sweaty bodies. Mark sure has this weird way of getting Jinyoung to do whatever he asks.

He pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind as he dances and drinks and repeats the cycle again and again. Before he realizes it, he's absolutely wasted.

In the blink of an eye, he's not in the living room anymore, but he's outside. He looks around and sees Mark next to him with an amused expression.

"Hey there, you good?" Mark asks. 

"Where are we?" Jinyoung slurs.

"Outside. You're a little hot so I decided to bring you out here." Mark explains.

"You think I'm hot?" Jinyoung laughs, hiccuping. "I think you're hot, Mark." Jinyoung says bravely.

"What?" Mark chuckles.

"I think you're so cute."

"Wow, you must be really drunk."

"What's wrong with that? I think it's giving me the courage to finally tell you how I feel. I like you, Mark Tuna."

"Uh, that's not my last name." Mark points out.

"Yeah, but it's funny, right?" Jinyoung laughs loudly. Mark shakes his head and chuckles along too.

"Maybe I should take you home."

"Wait, let's stay out here for a minute. It feels nice." Jinyoung leans his head on Mark's shoulder and closes his eyes.

"Jinyoung..."

"I really do like you, Mark." Jinyoung whispers.

Mark stays quiet to hear what Jinyoung will say next. Both of their hearts are racing at this confession.

"I think you're the most incredible person I've ever met, and I really want to kiss you. I think I've wanted to kiss you since we first met." Jinyoung opens his eyes and looks up at Mark.

"Oh, really?" Mark asks.

"Mhm." Jinyoung nods. He pulls away from Mark a little and stares at his mouth. To Jinyoung, Mark's lips seem inviting. Mark isn't backing away either, so this is Jinyoung's chance.

He straightens his posture and starts to slowly lean towards Mark. He watches his best friends eyes close and he gets excited... That is until his stomach starts churning. 

Uh-oh.

Jinyoung quickly turns away from Mark and projectile vomits so horribly that it probably reaches the other side of the yard.

"Oh god." Mark says disgustedly. "That was almost on my face."

"Mark." Jinyoung whines. "Help."

"Alright, I think it's time to go." Mark lifts his best friend up. Jinyoung drifts in and out of consciousness as Mark drags him along. The only thing he catches is Mark asking Jaebum for a room that they can rest in and then a soft bed.

When Jinyoung's eyes open again, he is staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He sits up fast--too fast. His head feels like someone hammered a nail right into this skull.

"Ugh." He groans loudly. "It's so bright." He whispers. He opens up one eye and looks around he room before spotting a pair of sunglasses on the nightstand along with a glass of water and some ibuprofen. He quickly puts the glasses on and takes the medicine before getting out of the bed and wandering out the door.

He walks down the hallway and pokes his head into the kitchen where he sees Mark making breakfast. "Mark." Jinyoung says.

"Oh, hey. How do you feel?" Mark smiles brightly.

"I'm okay... Where are we?" Jinyoung asks.

"My house."

"Huh? How did we get here? Last think I remember was you asking Jaebum for a room." Jinyoung walks into the kitchen and sits down at an empty chair. "Did Jaebum bring us here?"

"Uh..." Mark hesitates for a minute. "Yeah." He nods. Jinyoung nods too, not suspecting anything.

Mark thinks about last night when he carried Jinyoung on his back for three miles to his house. He's kind of heavy and his breath smelled like alcohol and vomit, but it was worth it, Mark thinks.

"That's good. At least you didn't have to carry me all they way here, am I right?" Jinyoung jokes. Mark laughs nervously.

"Yeah." He scratches he back of his neck. "Here, breakfast is done. Let's eat."


	9. November 14, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

"Kunpimook!" A voice calls out. Kunpimook freezes in his place as he recognizes Mark's voice. He regains his senses and tries to walk away like he didn't hear Mark, but soon he feels him grab his wrist. "Hey, Kunpimook."

He slowly turns to face Mark, and watches as the smile slides off of the older boys face. "H-hey, Mark."

"What happened to you?" Marks brow furrows at the sight of Kunpimook. His eye is black and swollen, and his lips are cut up and bloody. He looks rough, like he'd been... Beaten up.

"N-nothing. I just fell down the stairs the other day. It hurt." He chuckles nervously. Mark can tell that he's lying through his teeth.

"Kunpimook..." Mark starts. His gaze turns dark as he looks at the other boy. "Did Jinyoung do this?" His voice is low as he asks.

Kunpimook stares up at Mark, his eyes starting to water. "Please don't say anything to him." He immediately breaks. "If he finds or that you know, he'll hurt me again."

"He did this?" Mark asks.

"Yes. He told me to stay away from you, but you keep talking to me in the halls. He wouldn't listen to me when I said I was trying to avoid you." Kunpimook cries. Mark helps him stay steady, as his knees are shaking. 

"Come with me. I want you to tell me about what he's done to you." Mark says seriously. He's not playing around now.

He escorts Kunpimook to an empty classroom and closes the door behind them. He grabs him some tissues and helps him calm down before asking him some questions.

"How long has this been going on?" Mark questions.

"Ever since he threatened me. A few weeks ago, I guess." Kunpimook shrugs.

"How many other people does he do this to?"

"More than I can count, man. Him and his friends corner anyone and everyone."

Mark balls his fists angrily and let's out a rough breath. He lied. Jinyoung had looked right into Mark's eyes and told him he would stop hurting other people. He had said he wasn't doing this anymore.

This makes Mark think about what else Jinyoung might have lied about. What if Jinyoung is just using Mark? Mark's not sure what the hell he'd use him for, but it could be possible. Can he trust his best friend?

"Mark?" Kunpimook snaps Mark from his trance.

"Do you know where he is now?"

"U-um, I don't know..."

Mark starts towards the classroom door. "You should go to class, Kunpimook." He says in a low voice. He exits without another word and walks around the school in search of Jinyoung.

Words can't begin to describe how absolutely furious Mark is. He's upset and just about ready to make Jinyoung look like Kunpimook for what he's been doing.

As he turns a corner, Mark spots him. He's standing in front of some kid on the floor, his foot on the kids chest. The most disturbing part is that Jinyoung is laughing like some kind of psychopath. Does he really find that much pleasure in hurting others?

"Jinyoung." Mark calls out to his friend as he walks closer. He watches as Jinyoung tenses.

His eyes go wide and he slowly turns to see Mark. At this point, his heart is beating so fast that he's starting to sweat. He realizes now what's happening. 

"M-Mark."

Mark just stares. He looks disappointed and angry. He doesn't say anything, he just pushes Jinyoung back with force. He leans down and helps the kid up and sends him on his way.

"What are you doing?" Marks asks. "Huh?" Jinyoung's silent. "Answer me." Mark raises his voice.

"Can you guys leave?" Jinyoung says over his shoulder. His friends reluctantly leave them. Once the hallways are clear, Jinyoung speaks again. "I'm sorry." He hangs his head.

"Is that all you have to say?" 

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me why you keep lying to me."

Jinyoung looks up and shrugs. "I don't know. What do you want from me? I can't stop."

"You can't stop? I don't think you want to stop." Mark furrows his brow. 

"It's not that easy." Jinyoung starts yelling.

"Yes it is. You're just making excuses!"

"You know what, I don't need this." 

Mark scoffs. "You don't need this? You? What about me? You lied to my face multiple times, Jinyoung. How can I trust you?"

"Mark--" Jinyoung tries to reach his hand out and touch Mark.

"No, don't touch me." Mark swats his hand away. Jinyoung doesn't know what to think. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Wait. I'm sorry. What else do you want? I apologized!"

"But you hurt so many people, including Kunpimook." 

"Kunpimook...? Is that who told you?" Jinyoung clenches his fists.

"I swear to god, Jinyoung. If you hurt him, I'll never forgive you." Mark spits. Jinyoung stops. He's never yelled like this before. Mark must be really, really upset.

"How can I fix this?" Jinyoung asks pleadingly.

"Just... Leave me alone right now." Mark doesn't have anymore energy to argue with Jinyoung. He's tired of the lies and deceit. He turns away and starts walking towards the infirmary. It would probably be best for him to just pretend that he doesn't feel well and go home. 

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Mark calls his father and he comes to pick him up. After he gets home, he feels kind of lifeless. He feels betrayed.

"What's wrong, Mark?" His father asks.

"I don't know, dad." He sighs. "I think I need some advice."

"On what?"

"One of my friends did something really horrible. I want to forgive him, but he hurt a lot of people." Mark sighs and looks to the ground. "What should I do?"

"He hurt people? If I were you, I'd kick that kid out of my life. You don't need that kind of negativity." Mark's father says before patting him on the back. "Anyway, why don't you go rest. I want you to feel better as soon as possible." This only makes Mark feel worse. Kicking Jinyoung out of his life? The thought hadn't ever crossed his mind.

"Okay." Mark nods anyway. He slowly walks upstairs and into his bedroom. He can't stop thinking about everything that happened. Maybe he was being too harsh. Maybe he was overreacting... But maybe not.

But Mark doesn't want to think about anything right now, so he goes right to sleep. He doesn't get much rest though, as his phone goes off an hour or two later, waking him up.

"Hello?" Mark answers groggily.

"Mark." It's Jinyoung.

"What?"

"I'm coming over."

"Why?"

"Because you're not allowed to be mad at me, okay? I'm gonna make it up to you." Jinyoung states.

Mark's honestly baffled. "What in the actual--"

"Just be ready when I get there."

"Whatever. Just come in when you get here. I'll be down the hall, third door on the right." Mark hangs up without a second thought. Just because Jinyoung is going to ' _make it up to him_ ' doesn't mean things are all fine and dandy. He's still very upset, and being woken up so abruptly from his nap like that really isn't helping his mood.

It's only a few minutes until his bedroom door is opening and Jinyoung is slowly walking in. Mark sits up on his bed and stares at Jinyoung without an expression on his face.

"Hi..." 

"Sit." Mark says firmly.

Jinyoung tosses a bag to the ground and sits at the end of Mark's bed. He can see how tense Jinyoung looks.

"We need to talk. Like... Really talk." Jinyoung swallows hard and looks at Mark. He moves towards him on his bed. "I... Want to change."

"I don't know if I should believe you." Mark gives a pointed look.

"That's why I said I wanted to talk. I want you to help me."

"Help you?"

"Yeah. What's the first step? Is it to stop hurting people? I'll stop, I promise. I won't hurt Kunpimook or anyone." Jinyoung says hastily, willing to try anything to win Mark over.

"Yeah, don't hurt anyone. But there's a second part too. This is the real test to see if you're really committed." Mark starts. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, lay it on me."

"You have to be nice to Yugyeom and make up with him."

Jinyoung freezes. He looks at Mark. "That's a little..."

"It's the first step." Mark says.

Jinyoung thinks for a minute. If he says yes, there's no going back. If he says no, his relationship with Mark won't be the same. There's honestly only one answer.

"...Okay." He nods.

"Good, now you have to answer this question. Not for me or for him, but for yourself. Why do you hate him so much?"

"Well that's easy. It's because my father cheated with his mother, and his mother married my father afterwards." Jinyoung shrugs.

"I understand hating his mother for that and your father, but him? What exactly does he have to do with that?" Mark questions.

"W-well he..."

"He was just a kid at the time too. Do you really, honestly believe he could've had anything to do with that?" 

Jinyoung opens his mouth to speak, but then just closes it again. He supposes he's never really thought about it before. He's just been blinded by hatred for all these years that he's never given it a thought.

"You have to let go of all of those negative emotions you have towards him because they won't get you anywhere. All he's done is try and support you. Wanna know how you've repaid him?"

"H-how?"

"By turning him into you." Mark says. It's a little harsh, his tone, but he has to get his point across. "He does the same thing you do. He hurts other people to let out his frustrations. That's not healthy, Jinyoung. You've basically turned your younger brother into a monster."

Jinyoung doesn't really know what to say. 

"So please do this. For his sake and your sake."

"Okay." Jinyoung nods after a few moments of silence. "So... What's the second step?"

"The second step... Is giving me that triangular kimbap I know you have in your bag. Give it to me." Marks says with big eyes.

"What? How did you know?" Jinyoung questions, not hiding his laughter and surprise. "You're like a bloodhound for that stuff."

"If you want me to forgive you, pass it over. All of it."

"Alright, alright." Jinyoung smiles. The atmosphere doesn't feel as tense as it was when he first arrived. He's glad they were able to talk a little bit.

He hands Mark the bag he had brought and watches him open his snacks one by one and shove them into his mouth. 

Mark definitely doesn't seem as mad as he was earlier. In fact, he seems happy. It was the kimbap, Jinyoung's sure of it.

They start talking like they hadn't ever started arguing, and it was nice. They talk until it gets late, but they don't really care about the time, not until Mark finally looks at his phone.

"Wow, it's like ten." He tells Jinyoung, who's now laying next to him, snacking on some chips Mark's mother had brought them.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. When are you going home?" Mark asks.

"Hmm? I'm not." Jinyoung yawns. "Wow, I'm beat. I'll be right back." He gets up and grabs his bag from the floor.

"Wait, don't tell me you brought pajamas. Did you know you'd stay this late?" Mark asks incredulously.

"Well, it's better to be prepared, don't you think?" Jinyoung grins and goes down the hall towards the bathroom. Before Mark can blink, Jinyoung is coming back in, wearing a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. He gets into bed next to Mark and gets himself comfortable.

"What are you--"

"Shh. Goodnight." Jinyoung closes his eyes and faces away from Mark.

"What a weirdo." Mark sighs, but he smiles. He lays down too, turning off his lamp before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	10. November 15, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

All is silent as Mark's eyes slowly open. For some reason, he feels strangely blissful, happy, and warm. That's when he feels someone moving next to him. He gazes down with tired eyes to see Jinyoung with his head resting on his chest and his leg hooking around Mark's. This makes Mark smile and he wraps his arms around his best friend. This all kind of feels like a dream.

Mark has long since realized that he likes Jinyoung, and he isn't trying to get rid of his feelings. Having a crush on someone gives him a warm and fuzzy feeling. That's why he's so concerned about the things Jinyoung does. 

Would you want your crush going around bullying people? No.

Mark tightens his arms around Jinyoung and suddenly feels him stirring. He watches closely as Jinyoung's eyes flutter open and land on him. His eyes search his best friends face. 

"Mark?" Jinyoung asks, confused.

"Good morning." Mark whispers. Jinyoung's cheeks go red and he tries to break away from Mark's arms, but fails. "Wait, don't leave."

"M-Mark." Jinyoung suddenly covers his mouth. "Let me brush my teeth please." He says.

"Alright, I'll go with you." Mark lets go of Jinyoung and allows him to grab his toothbrush from his bag before leading him to the bathroom. They silently start brushing their teeth.

Jinyoung feels extremely awkward. He had opened his eyes and Mark's face was so close to his. What was he trying to pull, huh? 

They finish up in the bathroom and then walk side by side back to Mark's room. Jinyoung sits on the edge of the bed awkwardly. Mark lays back down where he was, and wraps his arms around the younger boys waist.

"Lay down." Mark tells him. Jinyoung obliges and is soon resting his Mark's arms again.

"W-what are you doing?" Jinyoung asks.

"What? Can't I hug my best friend?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Then shh." Mark closes his eyes and let's out a deep breath. He feels very comfortable. He doesn't even realize how hard Jinyoung is staring at him. 

Jinyoung can't help but stare at Mark though. He's so close and so beautiful. Everything about him is just perfect. He's Jinyoung's first love, he thinks. Or maybe second...

Jinyoung can't help it when his mind drifts to Minhyuk. He was his first and last kiss. His first love, maybe. Jinyoung sometimes thinks about his old friend and wonders where in the world he could be.

"Hey, have you ever had a first love?" Jinyoung asks Mark suddenly.

"What classifies as a first love?" Mark questions.

"Someone you felt like you loved and always wanted to be with until the end of time." Jinyoung says. "But instead, it was only temporary..."

"Then, yeah. I think I had a first love when I was like ten. She was really pretty too." Mark laughs.

"What about your first kiss? Like real kiss, not a peck on the cheek or lips."

"Mm, I think I was like thirteen or fourteen. I was playing spin the bottle at one of my friends houses in Cali. It was definitely an experience." Mark chuckles again. "What about you?"

"Oh, uh, I was fourteen." Jinyoung says.

"When was your last kiss?" Mark asks.

Jinyoung hesitates for a moment. "When I was fourteen."

Mark opens his eyes and looks at Jinyoung. "Really? That was your first and last kiss?"

"Yeah." Jinyoung's cheeks turn red with embarrassment. "When was your last kiss?"

"Mm, not too long before I came here, actually." 

"Oh... You don't have a boyfriend back in California, right?"

"No, no. It was one of my girl friends... We hadn't been friends for long, but she confessed to me and decided that kissing me out of nowhere would be a good idea. I felt really bad for her. I'm just not into girls."

"That's good." Jinyoung sounds relieved. "I-I mean, it's good that... What I meant to say was... I'll just shut up."

Mark laughs at that. "You're happy that's I'm single?" Mark smiles. Jinyoung is literally regretting his whole existence at this point.

"No, I meant..."

"It's okay, don't worry." Mark laughs. "I know you like me."

"What?!" Jinyoung sits up, yelling.

"What?" Mark questions.

"You know?" Jinyoung asks with wide eyes. He slaps his hands over his face and groans loudly.

"Of course I do. You confessed to me already." Mark reminds his best friend.

Jinyoung peeks out at Mark from in between his fingers. "I did?"

"Yeah. At the Halloween party at JB's. Maybe you don't remember since you were so wasted." Mark says casually. "But we almost kissed."

"A-almost?" Jinyoung starts shakily. "We didn't?"

"No. Just as we were about to, you started puking all over the place." Mark says.

"W-what? I threw up? Please tell me I didn't get it on you."

"No. You were courteous enough to turn away and then projectile vomit."

"Oh god."

"But obviously I didn't mind that you threw up." Mark points out.

"You don't?" Jinyoung asks. Mark pulls his hands away from his face and holds them.

"No."

"But you still think of me as just a friend, right?"

"Do you honestly think I'd let someone I thought of as just a friend sleep in my bed and cuddle me all night long?" Mark asks.

Jinyoung tries to hide his face again but Mark pulls him towards the bed and hugs him from behind. "Don't fight it." Mark whispers.

"That sounded really rape-y." Jinyoung points out nervously.

"Oh, shut up." Mark rolls his eyes. He presses a kiss behind Jinyoung's ear and the younger boy shivers.

"What was that for?" Jinyoung asks quietly.

"It's just so you know I like you too."

"Y-you do?"

"Of course. I thought I made it obvious. Don't you realize how concerned I've been about you?"

"I thought it was just because I make a lot of trouble." Jinyoung says.

"Well, you do, but I like you."

"Okay."

"So, we're dating now, okay?"

"Sure." Jinyoung says, trying to hide how much his voice is shaking. Is this real life? Is he on Punk'd? Is Ashton Kutcher gonna come out laughing with a camera crew? How long has that show been cancelled?

"Awesome." Mark smiles.

"On one condition." Jinyoung turns in Mark's arms. 

"There's conditions to dating you?" Mark sighs.

"We can't tell anyone, okay?" Jinyoung looks nervous. Mark remembers the bad things that have happened to Jinyoung in the past and he nods understandingly.

"Of course. My lips are sealed." Mark replies. It's silent for a moment.

"So, uh, I see you have that PS3 over there. I also noticed GTA." Jinyoung says.

"What about it?"

"Can I play? I'll let you play on my Wii the next time you're over!" 

"What the hell? I don't want to play on your stupid Wii. But we can play GTA if you want." Mark lets go of Jinyoung and turns on his console. He smiles at how giddy Jinyoung seems now.

"Yay!"

"What are you, three?" Mark scoffs. He's about to hand Jinyoung the controller, but hold his higher than he can reach. "Okay, I have a condition for you."

"What? Come on." Jinyoung pouts.

"If you want to play this, you have to give me a kiss." Mark smiles. Jinyoung won't be able to resist this.

Jinyoung's eyes go wide and his face turns red for the millionth time this morning. "On second though, I need to go home. My mom wasn't expecting me to stay over last night so she's probably worried! Thanks for letting me stay, Mark! See you later!" Jinyoung says so fast that Mark barely catches what he says.

"W-what? Jinyoung! Wait!" But Jinyoung is already out the door. "Do I still have morning breath or something?" Mark asks himself. He breathes into the palm of his hand and sniffs, but there's not any distinct smell. He shrugs and sits against his headboard, controller in hand. He might as well play some GTA while he's at it.


	11. November 15, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Ealier JB had called Mark and asked him if he wanted to hang out. Of course Mark said yes since his boyfriend decided to avoid him like the plague ever since Mark tried to kiss him, but whatever. Mark didn't want to kiss him anyway.

So now here they are, Mark and JB, playing whatever random games JB has on his shelf at his house. Things seem to be doing pretty well so far, but JB is just itching to talk to Mark about a more important matter. It's something that's been on his mind for a while now...

"Mark." JB pauses the game they're playing at the moment. He looks over at his childhood friend and Mark meets his gaze.

"What's up?"

"Are you still hanging out with Junior?" JB asks.

Mark internally sighs but nods without hesitation. "Yeah, JB. I'm still hanging out with him. Why?"

"If you're just doing it out of pity, don't. Yugyeom said that something happened and he was humiliated in front of you or whatever. I honestly think he's bad news and that you should stay away from him. I mean, he's turned his little brother--"

"Look, JB, I know you're just concerned for me because we're good friends, but I'm okay. I want to stay with Jinyoung. Not out of pity." Mark makes clear. "I'm never going to leave him."

"...Okay." JB nods reluctantly. 

"I'm not supposed to say anything to anyone, but Jinyoung and I are dating now. I want you to respect that, okay? I'd appreciate it if you didn't diss him so much anymore." Mark responds.

"Wait, what?" JB's eyes are comparable to teacup saucers. Did he heard correctly? Did Mark just say that he's _dating_ Junior?

"We're dating." Mark says. Yeah, JB heard correctly.

"Wait, you're gay? No, he's gay?" He asks.

"Yeah. That's why his father has issues with him. It's because he's gay. And I've been gay for a long time so it's really not that surprising." Mark chuckles.

"So that's the 'sensitive information' Yugyeom was talking about?" JB questions.

"I guess so."

JB stares at Mark for a minute. "I don't really know what to say, to be honest."

"Are you not okay with this?"

"Not okay with what?" Mark and JB suddenly hear a new voice. In strolls Jackson along with Yugyeom and Youngjae. "Oh, hey Mark." Jackson smiles.

"Hey guys. We were just talking about Jinyoung."

"Is he okay?" Yugyeom asks suddenly.

"Yeah. He's fine." Mark smiles at how concerned he is for his older brother.

"It's not that I'm against your way of life or anything... I'm just worried about you." JB says suddenly.

"Don't worry about me."

"What? Why are you worried?" Jackson asks, sitting next to JB. Yugyeom and Youngjae follow his example and sit down too.

"Because..." JB looks at Mark.

"Because I told him that Jinyoung and I are dating now."

As Mark says those words, Yugyeom is drinking a bottle of water. He stops and chokes, coughing up a storm.

"You're what? I mean, I know I said I wanted you to make sure he was okay, but I really didn't have this in mind. I honestly wasn't expecting this." Yugyeom says in shock. 

"Yeah, I didn't know you swing that way, Mark." Youngjae notices.

"Apparently it's not obvious, but it's not like I hide it." Mark shrugs.

"So when dos you start dating?" Yugyeom asks.

"Earlier today."

"How did it happen?"

"Basically, he slept over last night because he felt bad for making me mad and this morning I kind of just was like, 'we're dating' and he said okay." Mark shrugs.

All four of the other boys stare at Mark.

"That stuff actually works? I thought that was something that only happened in movies and fanfiction." Jackson says curiously.

"I think he was mostly just shocked and that's why he said yes. I mean, I already know he likes me and I like him so it was bound to happen sometime." Mark smiles and leans back.

"Wait, you said he slept over, right? You guys weren't--" JB starts but is soon cut off by Mark's ringing phone.

"Sorry, let me take this." Mark pulls his phone out and sees it's Jinyoung. "Hello? Jinyoungie?"

"I told you not to call me that." Jinyoung growls at Mark and Mark just laughs.

"But I think it's cute."

"Whatever. Look, come over. I'm bored and I don't want to avoid you anymore." Jinyoung says.

"Wow, only calling me over because you're bored?" Mark chuckles.

"Are you coming or not?" Jinyoung asks.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I'll be right there." Mark smiles.

"Also, since it's on the way, could you get me something from the store?" Jinyoung asks in a sweet voice.

"Something tells me this was your intention all along, asking me to buy you something."

"I'd like something for lunch please. Anything you think I'd like. Thanks. Be here in twenty minutes or I'm locking you out."

"You won't lock me out." Mark rolls his eyes.

"Try me. Bye." Jinyoung hangs up. Mark stands up and looks at his friends. 

"Thanks for letting me come hang out with you, but I have to go." Mark says. "Jinyoung wants me to come over and also bring him some food so I have to go."

"Oh. Okay, good luck." JB says. He stands up too. "By the way, Mark... If you're happy and he's treating you well, then I guess I don't have a reason to object." 

"Thanks, man. That means a lot to me." Mark smiles and hugs JB. "I'll text you, okay?"

"Yeah. See you."

"By the way, keep this a secret, alright?" Mark says.

"Sure." They all nod.

"Even from Jinyoung because I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"...Okay?"

"Bye. See you guys later." Mark waves and starts towards the front door.

"Bye, Mark!" Jackson, Youngjae and Yugyeom say. Once Mark is out the door, everyone looks at each other.

"Mark's gay?" Youngjae asks. They all think about that for a second.

"I never would've guessed, to be honest." Jackson sits down where Mark once was.

"Me neither, but whatever." JB shrugs. "If he's happy, that's all that matters."

While the guys all get comfy and play their games, Jinyoung is avoiding his mother's questions. She's been asking all morning.

"Mom, I told you I was at Mark's. I fell asleep last night and didn't make it home. That's all." Jinyoung groans.

"Are you sure? Can Mark vouch for you?"

"Yes, mom. That's why he's coming over. That and because I'm hungry."

"Alright... But why were you over there?" She questions.

"I made him upset and needed to make things better." Jinyoung says simply.

"I'll just ask Mark when he gets here." She says.

"Mom!" Jinyoung whines.

Suddenly the front door opens and Mark comes in. "Hi. I got here as fast as I could. I was gonna buy you something but I didn't have any money so..." Mark shrugs.

"What? You suck." Jinyoung pouts.

"Whatever. Hi, mom." Mark smiles at Jinyoung's mother. She grins right back at Mark and hugs him.

"Hi, Mark."

"Hey, I have some good news. Jinyoung and I are dating now!" Make grins.

"What? Really?" She asks like this is the best thing that could ever happen.

"Mark!" Jinyoung shouts. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't tell anyone!"

"Well, your mom is different. Besides, she's probably been wanting us to date since we became friends, so does it really matter that I told her?"

"Ugh, kill me." Jinyoung sighs and rubs at his eyes as he leans back on the couch.

"Wait a minute." Jinyoung's mother suddenly snaps out of her trance. "You two are daring and you had an unauthorized sleep over?"

"Unauthorized? What is this, prison?" Jinyoung questions.

"Well, it was kind of unexpected. I didn't know he was staying over, but before I could kick him out, he was asleep. And besides, I didn't ask until this morning." Mark clarifies.

"Ask? You _told me_ we were dating. I had no choice in the matter." Jinyoung crosses his arms.

"Like you would've said no if I had asked anyway." Mark snorts.

"Alright, I'll let you two off this time." Jinyoung's mother laughs at the boys banter. "I have to get going. I need to go grocery shopping. I can trust you to be here alone, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." Mark bows.

"Alright, I'll be back soon." Jinyoung's mother quickly grabs her purse and a jacket and it soon out the door. That's when Mark turns.

"Why did you run away this morning?" He questions.

"No." Jinyoung doesn't want to talk about it.

"Is it because your embarrassed that you haven't been kissed since you were thirteen?"

"Fourteen." Jinyoung corrects him.

"Whatever. Is that it?"

"No."

"Then why?" Mark asks.

"Okay? Maybe that is it."

"Don't be scared. I haven't kissed anyone in a long time either." Mark says.

"Yeah, because a few months is a long time." Jinyoung rolls his eyes.

"Just shut up and kiss me." Mark says a little aggressively. He doesn't want to initiate this. He wants Jinyoung to do it. Mark initiates everything.

"Okay, fine. Do it." Jinyoung says nervously.

"No, you do it. I do everything."

"What? You're gonna make me do it?"

"Yeah. Go ahead." Mark closes his eyes, waiting.

Jinyoung swallows hard. He can hear his heart beating in his ears and can feel his skin becoming hot and red with embarrassment. Of course he wants to kiss Mark, but he's nervous. What is he's not a good kisser? What if Mark doesn't enjoy it? What if his lips are too chapped, or he accidentally does something weird?

"Stop thinking so hard about it, Jinyoung." Mark says suddenly. He reaches out and pulls Jinyoung towards him without opening his eyes.

"Okay, okay." Jinyoung says. He places his hands on Mark's shoulders awkwardly. Bad memories flash through his mind. Memories of the last time he kissed a boy.

"Don't think so hard about it." Mark whispers. With that, Jinyoung builds up just enough courage to close his own eyes and slowly lean in. He feels the heat of Mark's face close to his own. He's so close...

"Sorry, I forgot my--" Mark and Jinyoung's eyes both snap open and they pull away from each other. Jinyoung's mother is staring at them from the front door.

"M-mom."

"Sorry! I'll go now." She quickly leaves and Jinyoung covers his face.

"I think I'm literally gonna die of embarrassment." Jinyoung whines.

"Rain check?" Mark asks. Jinyoung meets his eyes.

"Yeah, I don't think I can handle that build up again just to have my mom walk in and give me a heart attack again." Jinyoung sighs. Mark pulls him towards him and let's Jinyoung rest his head against his chest.

"I could get used to this." Mark smiles.

"Me too." Jinyoung smiles. "This is kind of strange though. I never would've expected this to happen. It's like something that only happens in the movies."

"Yeah, I guess so. Two hot guys dating like this." Mark responds.

"Did you just call me hot?" Jinyoung looks up at Mark, who presses a kiss to Jinyoung's forehead.

"Yes, now shut up and don't ruin the moment." Mark whispers.

"Okay, sorry."


	12. November 21, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

Kunpimook stares at his phone as he walks down the hallway. He got a strange text from Mark to meet him in the first floor bathrooms. He figures it must be urgent since Mark never really asks to meet like this.

As Kunpimook turns a corner, he sees Mark, but he also sees Junior. Fear paralyzes him. He watches as Junior looks over. He nudges Mark and points towards Kunpimook.

"Hey, Kunpimook. Come here." Mark says. Slowly, Kunpimook listens and shuffles his way towards the two boys.

"W-what's going on?" 

"Kunpimook." Junior starts. Kunpimook flinches and that's when Jinyoung frowns at himself. After talking with Mark and changing little by little over the past week, he's come to realize just what he's done to all those people.

"Don't be scared, okay? I promise everything will be okay." Mark tells Kunpimook, upset that he flinched at the sound of his name.

"I just want to apologize." Jinyoung says suddenly. Kunpimook looks up at him with wide eyes.

"What?" He asks.

"I'm apologizing for everything I've done to you. I realize that this may not be enough and you may never forgive me, but I'd like to try and be friends. If not friends them just friendly acquaintances. Whatever you're most comfortable with." Jinyoung says. Kunpimook can't really believe his ears. Is this real life? The big bad bully is apologizing?

"I... Don't understand." Kunpimook shakes his head.

"Here, why don't we take a walk. You're in study hall, right?" Jinyoung asks. Kunpimook nods. "Then let's go. I promise it'll be quick, and I won't try anything." Jinyoung puts his hands up to show Kunpimook that he won't hurt him.

"O-okay." He nods and follows after Jinyoung as he starts walking. Once they're out of the building and away form Mark, Jinyoung leads them to the hill with the big tree on top. He sits down and Kunpimook follows suit.

"I'm sorry again, by the way. I just..." Jinyoung sighs. "Have you ever gotten hurt really badly and you can't let it go so you hurt others?" Jinyoung asks.

"Yeah." Kunpimook admits.

"That's what I did to you. I don't have a problem with you, really... I had a problem with myself and with my family. I was being horrible without the right to be."

Kunpimook is silent as he listens to what Jinyoung has to say.

"My father hates me, and my home is broken. I got kicked out and things were rough for a while. I'm telling you this because I want you to understand why I was being that way towards you. I didn't have that great of a life until Mark came around. He really changed me for the better."

"Yeah... You have changed." Kunpimook speaks up. "I was so afraid of you, but hearing this now makes me understand you more. Now I realize you're not so scary... You're just a regular guy." He says. "I guess Chris was wrong."

"Chris... I'll have to apologize to him too." Jinyoung nods.

"No offense, but I don't think he'll forgive you. I don't think it'll matter what you say to him."

"Yeah, I don't expect everyone to forgive me. I just want them to realize that I feel regret for what I've done."

"Thank you." Kunpimook says to Jinyoung. "Thank you for apologizing to me. He gives him a smile.

"Maybe we can eventually become friends." Jinyoung suggests.

"Yeah, maybe." Kunpimook nods. "But I think we should go back to Mark for now."

"Sure." Jinyoung nods. Hey both head back into the school and back to Mark.

"You guys make up?" He asks impatiently.

"Yeah." Kunpimook smiles. "Junior isn't such a bad guy after all."

"Hey, you can call me Jinyoung." 

Kunpimook looks at Jinyoung in disbelief but then smiles again. "I'll see you later, Jinyoung. You too, Mark." He waves.

"See you." Mark says. He waits until Kunpimook is gone to face his boyfriend. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No, you're right. He's a good kid and I do feel bad for hurting him." Jinyoung nods.

"I'm so proud of you." Mark kisses Jinyoung's cheek before he can protest.

"H-hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? What if someone sees us? Are you crazy?" Jinyoung pushes Mark away roughly. "Jeez."

"Oh, come on. We're alone!" Mark laughs.

"There are _cameras_!" Jinyoung whispers.

"It's not like the administration is interested in our relationship, okay?" Mark rolls his eyes. "Anyway, I'm going back to class. You should go back too."

"Okay." Jinyoung says. He starts to walk away.

"By the way, we're going to JB's after school." Mark calls after Jinyoung. Jinyoung sighs and tried to just ignore what Mark had said. Maybe if he ignores Mark enough, he won't force Jinyoung to go to Jaebum's house. 

Jinyoung goes back to class without a care and a smile on his face, that is until he gets a text from Mark. 

He was going to ignore it but he just can't. He can't bring himself to ignore Mark, so he checks his phone.

_It doesn't matter how much you ignore me, Jinyoungie. All the more reason to take you over there so you can make friends with everyone._

Jinyoung mentally curses himself while Mark is smiling down at the lack of response from his boyfriend. He knows he's won, so once that bell rings to signal the end of the day, Mark darts from his class to meet Jinyoung at his.

Jinyoung's teacher is still telling them about whatever stupid project they need to get done in two weeks time. The bell has rung, but they're not allowed to leave until he says so.

"So make sure you finish on time. If I'm in a good mood, I'll deduct ten percent everyday it's late. If I'm not, you get a zero if it's late." He tells his class. "Got it?"

"Yes." The students reply unenthusiastically.

"You may leave."

Jinyoung doesn't hesitate to get up and speedily pack his things up. When he exits the classroom, he sees Mark standing there, waiting for him. A feeling of joy wells up inside of him at the sight of his boyfriend.

"Hey, do you mind if we stop at my house before going over? We can both change." Mark says.

"Sure, but I doubt I'll fit into your pants. You kind of have chicken legs." Jinyoung laughs.

"Whatever, come on." Mark rolls his eyes and they start their short walk to Mark's house.

Several times durning their walk, Mark attempts to hold Jinyoung's hand, but Jinyoung always brushes him away. "Seriously, stop."

"Why? I can't hold your hand? There's nobody even walking around here." Mark says.

"I just don't want to get caught."

"Is it so weird if two guys are holding hands?"

"Yeah."

"No it's not. This is the twenty first century. Get with the times, Jinyoung." Mark sighs.

"I'm not trying to upset you, I'm just new to all of this. I just don't want people finding out."

"Do you know how that makes me feel?"

Jinyoung meets Mark's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"It's whatever. Let's just hurry inside." Mark and Jinyoung walk up to the front door. They walk inside and see Mark's parents are home. "Hey, you're home early."

"Yeah, we both just happened to get some time off at the same time." Mark's mother smiles.

"Well, in that case, I have news for you. Jinyoung and I are dating now." Mark smiles brightly.

Jinyoung's eyes instantly go wide and he hits Mark. "Dude, how many people are gonna tell?" He whisper yells.

"Not that many. Only your mom, my parents... And I may have told JB, Yugyeom, Youngjae, and Jackson. But it's not that many people when you think about it." Mark says.

"Are you out of your mi--" Jinyoung starts but Mark puts a hand over his mouth.

"So, yeah. We're dating now." Mark says again.

"We heard you the first time." His father yawns as he flips mindlessly through a magazine.

"You don't have anything to say?"

"Look, honey, we love you and it's great that you're dating, but not everything's about you. Your father and I are trying to relax right now, so why don't you two go upstairs or something?" Mark's mother suggests.

"I cannot believe this." Mark's baffled. But he grabs Jinyoung's hand anyway and pulls him to his bedroom. "They weren't even happy for me."

"At least they aren't against it, I guess." Jinyoung shrugs.

"Yeah, but they were supposed to be overflowing with joy or something along those lines." Mark sighs and sets his bag down on his bed. Without a moment of hesitation, he reaches for his pants and starts unzipping them.

"Whoa, what the hell are you doing?" Jinyoung quickly turns away from Mark embarrassedly.

"I told you we came here to change." Mark shrugs. Jinyoung's heart is in his throat. Mark Tuan is getting undressed right now in front of him. Well, behind him, but they're in the same room.

"Just... Tell me when you're finished." Jinyoung manages to stutter out.

Mark chuckles but quickly dresses. Once he's finished, he walks up behind Jinyoung and wraps his arms around him. "Jinyoungie."

"I told you not to call me that." Jinyoung turns to face his boyfriend. Almost immediately Mark latches on and kisses Jinyoung before he can protest. Not like he was going to anyway.

Mark's lips feel nice and warm against Jinyoung's, and Jinyoung's feel the same against Mark's. Of course, since Jinyoung has no clue what to do, Mark is in the lead. He just let's his boyfriend place soft kisses on his lips repeatedly.

When Mark finally pulls away, Jinyoung feels like he's in a daze. He's lightheaded and confused. "Do you want to change or not?" Mark asks, changing the subject like nothing just happened.

"Uh... No..." Jinyoung slowly shakes his head, and Mark grabs his phone and wallet.

"Okay, then let's go." He takes Jinyoung's hand in his and leads him out the door.

It doesn't take long for them to get there, and it doesn't take long for Jinyoung's mood to sour. "I don't want to be here."

"Stop it. You're acting like a child." Mark tells him.

"I am not." Jinyoung pouts.

"You better be on your best behavior while we're here."

"I'll only be nice if he's nice."

"Oh my god, let's just go in." Mark rolls his eyes. He pulls his boyfriend inside behind him. Once inside, they spot JB, Yugyeom, Youngjae, and Jackson.

"Hey, Mark." JB says. "Junior."

"Jaebum." Jinyoung glares.

"Stop." Mark hits Jinyoung's chest.

"Ow."

"Both of you better be nice. Now make up." Mark says.

"Hell no." Both Jinyoung and Jaebum say at once.

"Then I'm not your friend anymore and I'm not your boyfriend." Mark says over-dramatically.

"Okay, okay." Jinyoung's the first to break at that comment. He looks at Jaebum. "I'm not doing this for you or because I want to. I'm doing this for Mark." He explains.

Jaebum nods. "Me too. I'm doing this because I care about Mark and he seems to like you for some reason." Jaebum hold out his hand and Jinyoung eyes it skeptically but then finally takes it.

Jaebum feels strange, shaking hands with someone he never wanted to become friends with. Hopefully that won't happen, but really the impossible is possible with Mark Tuan around.

"Good, now let's relax. I'm beat." Mark sighs. He drags Jinyoung to the couch. Mark sits first and then pulls his boyfriend onto his lap.

"H-hey! What are you doing? Let go of me!" Jinyoung yells.

"No." Mark squeezes him.

"Okay, while you two are here. I have one condition." JB starts. "No making out or anything. This is a place to relax and have fun, not a place to suck each other's faces off."

"Don't worry, we did that before we got here." Mark smiles casually while Jinyoung is slowly dying.

"Kill me." He whispers to himself.

Everyone relaxes and starts to feel more comfortable around one another. It's actually really nice, Jinyoung thinks. He doesn't mind hanging out with these guys.

"You know you have to make up with him sometime, right?" Mark suddenly whispers into Jinyoung's ear. His eyes immediately land on his stepbrother.

"Yeah... I know. But can't I have a little time to prepare myself?" Jinyoung asks.

"I guess, but don't put it off for too long." Mark replies. Jinyoung nods and relaxes back against Mark. Jinyoung supposes that maybe it won't be so bad if he were to be nice to Yugyeom. Maybe they can be friends again someday...


	13. Bonus: December 25, 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not posting lol. To make up for it, I'll post two parts today.

Unfortunately, Jinyoung's mother has invited Mark and his family over for Christmas. She figured that since they're from America, their family wouldn't come all the way to Korea to spend the holidays with them. That assumption is correct, but still. Jinyoung already knows that his mother will have a few celebratory drinks and then blurt out the fact that Jinyoung and Mark are a couple to all of Jinyoung's family. He's not sure how that will end. There's no way to tell if they'll be for it or against it. Probably against it after they meet Mark.

Jinyoung is almost certain that his mother and Mark's parents can hear them upstairs in Jinyoung's room arguing. This is their first argument since becoming a couple.

"No." Jinyoung shakes his head.

"Come on, are you serious?" Mark raises his voice. "Can't you just do this for me once?"

"No." Jinyoung crosses his arms.

"Why not?"

" _Because_. I will not be caught _dead_ in that ugly sweater. I don't care how much you bribe me or whatever, I will not wear that." Jinyoung starts. "All the money in the world couldn't get me to wear that."

Mark is currently holding up what is supposed to be a Christmas sweater. The horrible patten and all of the bells and ornaments hanging off of it make Jinyoung believe that this is what it would look like if a nuclear bomb went off in the North Pole. It would look like a Christmas disaster.

"It's not even that bad. Please?" Mark whines.

"No. I'm not wearing that."

"I'll make you wear this."

"Oh, really? I'd like to see you try." Jinyoung rolls his eyes as he challenges Mark.

After a small struggle, Jinyoung somehow finds himself laying face down on the ground, wearing that hideous sweater. Mark is sitting on his backside casually. "See, it's not that bad."

"Get off of me." Jinyoung pushes Mark off of him and gets up. He exits his room and as he walks down the stairs, tries to take the sweater off.

"Honey, keep your clothes on, please. Our guests are here." Jinyoung's mother informs him. He reluctantly smooths the sweater down and smiles at a few of his mothers work colleagues and his family members.

"Hi, everyone."

"Where's Mark? I want to introduce him to everyone."

"Hopefully somewhere dead." Jinyoung grumbles under his breath.

"Jinyoungie!" Mark calls from upstairs.

"What do you want?" Jinyoung yells. He watches as Mark happily comes down and wraps his arms around Jinyoung's shoulders.

"Someone's here!" Mark smiles happily.

"What? But all the guests have already arrived." Jinyoung states.

"Not yet..." Mark says right before there's a knock on the door. He happily goes over and opens it up.

Jinyoung internally groans when he sees who's there. Of course it's the whole gang: Jaebum, Jackson, Youngjae, and Yugyeom, followed by... Kunpimook? And _Minsoo?_ What the hell is she doing here? The guys are one thing, but she's another.

"Hey, Mark. Thanks for inviting us." Youngjae smiles.

"No problem, thanks for coming." Mark grins.

"You do realize this isn't your house, right?" Jinyoung questions Mark. "You can't just invite people to a party that's not even yours."

"Shh, it's fine." Mark pats Jinyoung's shoulder before hugging the rest of his friends. The last one was Minsoo. Jinyoung definitely doesn't miss the way she latches tightly onto Mark and glares right at Jinyoung over Mark's shoulder.

Jinyoung crosses his arms and glares right back her. Luckily, Mark pulls away from her.

"You remember Minsoo, right?" Mark asks.

Jinyoung watches Minsoo's expression change from one of glaring disgust to one of joy. She suddenly holds her arms open. "Oh, Jinyoung! How are y--"

"Yugyeom!" Jinyoung shouts happily all of a sudden. "Oh, sorry, gotta greet my brother. Who I love very much." Jinyoung grabs Yugyeom in a tight hug.

"J-Junior?" Yugyeom stutters, obviously confused.

"I swear to God, if she tries something tonight..." Jinyoung whispers into Yugyeom's ear as he eyes Minsoo violently.

"What are you talking about?" Yugyeom questions.

"I'm talking about _her. Minsoo_." Jinyoung glares. He then eyes his stepbrother. "I can't let her take Mark away from me."

"Hey, Junior. No offense or anything, but you kind of sound like a psychopath right now. Besides, Mark is gay and dating you so..." Yugyeom points out. Jinyoung admits he has a point, but still. Minsoo must die.

"Mark." Jinyoung calls. Mark looks at his boyfriend with a smile on his face and Minsoo on his arm. "My mom wants to introduce you to everyone, come on." Jinyoung not-so-gently tears Mark away from Minsoo's grasp. Minsoo shoots Jinyoung a look that could kill.

"Oh, sure." Mark grins. He goes with Jinyoung towards everyone else and Jinyoung's mother smiles at the both of them.

"Oh, everyone. This is Mark, Jinyoung's... Friend."

"He's my boyfriend." Jinyoung corrects his mother without hesitation. Everyone looks at him in surprise.

"I didn't know you were gay, Junior." His uncle says suddenly.

"Yeah, well, it just kind of happened." Jinyoung shrugs.

"You've been gay your whole life, honey. What are you talking about?" Jinyoung's mother laughs and he doesn't hesitate to glare at her meaningfully. She tries to cover up her laughter by coughing, but it doesn't really work that well.

"It's nice to meet you all." Mark smiles at Jinyoung's family. He shakes their hands and they all seem really taken by him. Jinyoung's actually surprised.

"Wait a second, this explains everything." Jinyoung and Mark suddenly hear. They turn to see Kunpimook with a look of realization on his face. "That's why you used to be weird about me being around Mark. It's because you liked him. Everything is coming together." He exclaims.

"I mean, it really shouldn't be a surprise though. Jinyoung kind of makes his sexuality really obvious when we're together." Mark shrugs. Jinyoung lightly hits his arm.

"I do not."

"Whatever you want to believe, Jinyoungie. I mean, sorry. You told me not to call you that." Mark shakes his head. Jinyoung suddenly glances at Minsoo before he looks back at his boyfriend.

"What? No. When did I say that. You know I love it when you call me that." Jinyoung lies. Mark looks at him strangely, but then shrugs. Sure, he'll just go along with Jinyoung for now.

"Sure, Jinyoungie."

"Should I call you something cute too?" Jinyoung asks himself more than Mark. He thinks. "I guess it would probably help if you did anything cute, but you're kind of just there. You don't really do much." Jinyoung sighs.

"Hey, that's not true. I'm totally cute." Mark says, offended.

"Yeah, but not cute enough." Jinyoung laughs.

"I think you're cute enough, Mark." A voice suddenly speaks up. Everyone looks over at Minsoo, who somehow _slithered_ her way next to Mark and latched onto his arm. She sends a brief glare to Jinyoung and then smiles up at Mark.

Yugyeom has been watching everything carefully and is surprised when he sees just what Jinyoung was talking about. Did he really just see that girl glare at him? Oh hell no. Nobody glares at his brother.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees this." Yugyeom says to Youngjae. Youngjae meets the eyes of his best friend.

"See what? The way Minsoo is glaring at Junior? I was just thinking about how strange that is." Youngjae's eyes narrow as he thinks. "Why is she doing that?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. I thought she was cool, but I'm not so sure now."

"Well, let's just keep our eyes on her for now and act later." Youngjae says and Yugyeom nods in agreement.

They go about their business but make sure to keep an eye on Minsoo. Jinyoung is actually keeping two eyes on her. Wherever Mark is, she is. Jinyoung refuses to leave Mark's side and leave him alone with Minsoo. She might try something, anything.

"We should hang out again soon, Mark. Last time was so much fun." Minsoo giggles, making sure to emphasize the fact that she's hung out with Mark before.

"Yeah, totally. That movie we saw was so good too. We should see another good one." Mark smiles. Jinyoung starts choking on air and Mark quickly pats his back to help his boyfriend out. "Are you okay?"

"You hung out with her?" Jinyoung asks in between coughs. "You went to the movies with her?"

"Yeah, why?" Mark asks.

"Why? Because you didn't tell me. When did this even happen?" Jinyoung questions.

"It was like last month. It's not that big of a deal." Mark shrugs.

Jinyoung literally cannot believe this. Does Mark really not see what Minsoo is trying to do? Is he honestly that blind? Usually Jinyoung is the blind one in this relationship.

"Not that big of a deal?" Jinyoung spits out the words like they're poison.

It was at this moment Mark knew, he fucked up.

Jinyoung stands up, obviously done, and he walks away into the kitchen. The atmosphere becomes a little tense for Mark as he wonders what he's done this time. Was it because he didn't let Jinyoung know he'd be going out with a friend? But Jinyoung hangs out with his friends without telling Mark, and Mark does the same with people like JB and Jackson. So why is Jinyoung being this way? Does it have something to do with Minsoo?

Mark looks over at Minsoo, who is still innocently smiling up at him. "It seems like he's upset." She notices.

"Yeah. I think I should go talk to him." Mark stands, making Minsoo stand too. "You should stay here. I need to talk to him in private." He tells her. Reluctantly, she sits back down. Mark starts to walk into the kitchen, but not before grabbing an extra piece of mistletoe he sees on a side table.

He cautiously enters the kitchen. Jinyoung has his arms crossed and is facing away from Mark, looking out the window above the sink. Mark decides to make his move now.

He holds the mistletoe up and dangles it in front of his boyfriends face. Jinyoung sees it and spins around only to be met by Mark's smiling yet apologetic face.

"I'm not really sure what I did, but I'm really sorry anyway. I don't want you to be mad at me." Mark says. He brings the mistletoe down and looks at Jinyoung. "Will you forgive me?"

"Yeah." Jinyoung nods. "I just... I don't really like Minsoo."

"What? Why not? She's nice."

"She likes you." Jinyoung crosses is arms again.

"So?" Mark asks. Jinyoung gives him a confused expression. "So what if she likes me? I'm not dating her and I never will. I'm dating you." Mark shrugs.

That short statement is enough to have butterflies erupting in Jinyoung's stomach and make his heart race. He's so taken aback at Mark's bluntness that he's not sure how to react. That's when Mark makes his move.

He grabs Jinyoung's face, mistletoe in hand, and plants a sweet kiss right on his lips. Of course Jinyoung is surprised. He kind of saw this coming, but is still unsure of how to react when Mark kisses him. But he relaxes after the initial shock, and enjoys the feeling of Mark's warmth.

Just as things start getting good, Mark and Jinyoung see a flash from behind their closed eyelids. They open their eyes in shock, only to see Jinyoung's mother holding a camera.

"Mom, you didn't!" Jinyoung shouts. He tears away from Mark to chase after his mother.

"It's just a little picture, Jinyoung. Nothing to get upset about!" She holds the camera behind her back away from her son.

"You took a picture of--" Jinyoung embarrassedly stops himself.

"A picture of what?" Jackson asks. Still nosy, Jinyoung sees.

"A picture of the couple."

"Mom."

"Jinyoung."

"Can I see?" Mark asks suddenly. Jinyoung looks at him incredulously. "What?"

"Sure, of course you can see!" Jinyoung's mother skips over to Mark and shows him the most recent picture on her digital camera. Mark instantly smiles once he sees the picture.

"This is really cute. Can I have a copy?" He asks as he stares. He just can't stop smiling as he looks at the picture. He thinks that him and Jinyoung really are the cutest couple in the world, and that they look really hot when they kiss.

"No. Don't give him a copy." Jinyoung says to his mother.

"Of course, Mark. Would you like one too?" His mother asks Mark's parents.

"No, we don't really care about Mark's love life." His father shrugs.

"They're still not excited that we're dating. It'll come. I know it will." Mark says to Jinyoung.

"It'll never come." Mark's mother whispers to her son.

"Anyway, how about we open presents and stuff now?" Jinyoung attempts to divert everyone's attention. He doesn't want to think about that stupid picture anymore.

"Yes. Good idea!" Mark agrees. He runs over to the tree and grabs the present he got for Jinyoung. "Come here."

Jinyoung walks over and sits on the floor in front of Mark. Mark hands the present over as Jinyoug grabs Mark's present and hands it to him. They both start opening at the same time.

Jinyoung rips open the wrapping paper and is met by a small box. He opens it and his eyes go wide. Sitting in the box is a really beautiful ring with Mark's name engraved on it. It looks really expensive to Jinyoung.

He looks up at Mark, who is smiling at Jinyoung's reaction. "I have one too." Mark pulls a necklace out from under his shirt. The ring with Jinyoung's name engraved on it is on the chain like a charm. Mark unclasps his necklace and slide the ring off. He puts it on his finger and then pulls Jinyoung's from its box. He slides it onto his boyfriends finger.

"Mark--" Jinyoung has a lump in his throat. He doesn't know if he can speak because he might cry.

"Do you like it?" Mark questions. Jinyoung nods fast. "I noticed that couples usually have matching bracelets or necklaces or whatever, so I decided to get us something." Mark smiles.

"I really like it." Jinyoung smiles. He just happens to glance behind Mark to see Minsoo glaring hard at him, which only makes him smile more.

"I'm glad."

"But it really makes my present seem really lame now." Jinyoung says nervously.

"Well, I'll be the judge of that." Mark continues to take the wrapping paper off of his present. He opens the box it's in and finds a cd with a case that looks like it was decorated by a five year old. Definitely Jinyoung's doing.

"Do you... Know what it is?" Jinyoung asks.

Mark doesn't answer just yet. He inspects the horribly drawn cover art with a smile and then turns the cd over to see a track list on the back. Mark looks up at his boyfriend.

"Did you make me a mixtape?"

"Something along those lines." Jinyoung nods.

"What is this, 1993?" Mark questions.

"Don't be a jerk." Jinyoung blushes.

"I've never heard of any of these. Who are they by?" Mark asks.

"...Me." Jinyoung tells him.

"Wait, what?" Mark paused and stares at the track list again. "You wrote these songs? Did you sing them?"

"Yeah..." Jinyoung is very embarrassed.

"I didn't know you were into music like that. Can you sing?"

"Jinyoung is a very good singer, but he's so shy. I'm really surprised he made that for you. It's obvious you're very special to him, Mark. He doesn't even let me hear him sing." Jinyoung's mother says.

"Wow." Mark suddenly thinks that the cover art Jinyoung drew isn't complete crap, and is instead a masterpiece. "I can't wait to listen to it."

"Make sure you're by yourself when you do." Jinyoung says with burning cheeks.

"Why? Are they like, _in-the-mood_ songs?"

"No!" Jinyoung hits Mark's leg. "It's just embarrassing."

"Alright, alright." Mark grins. "I'll only listen to it alone."

"Good."

"You guys are so smitten that it's gross." Jaebum says suddenly.

"I was just thinking the same thing. You two like each other too much." Jackson adds.

"Nobody asked what you think, Jackson." Jinyoung rolls his eyes.

"Hey, you don't have to be rude. I'm just inputting my very important opinion."

"Yeah, sure." Jinyoung rolls his eyes.

The atmosphere is nice and it makes Jinyoung forget all about Minsoo, but little does he know that she has something up her sleeve.

"This means war, Jinyoung." Minsoo narrows her eyes as she watches Mark and Jinyoung be all couple-like. It disgusts her, how Jinyoung is all over her future boyfriend. She'll have Mark Tuan. She'll get him even if it's the last thing she does.


	14. Bonus: December 31, 2014 - January 1, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still in the process of writing the valentines day chapter, but it should be finished soon. Just so you know, shit is about to go down.

Jaebum looks around at everything with a satisfied feeling. He's really outdone himself this time. Everything looks absolutely perfect and party-ready. Luckily, this time he was smart enough to realize that a huge party with fifty to one hundred people wasn't such a good idea. His poor house is still recovering from Halloween, and he doubts he'll ever hear the end of it from his parents. He practically begged them to let him have this small party with just friends. They finally said yes though, and now here he is.

"Hey, JB." Jaebum hears Jackson. He looks up and smiles at his best friend.

"What's up?"

"I can't really cook that well, so I bought a cake. I tried making one but I almost burnt down my house." Jackson shrugs casually.

"Oh. That sounds serious." Jaebum notices.

"It's okay. The fire department already came so there's nothing to be afraid of now." Jackson smiles. Jaebum shakes his head. His best friend sure is weird. "Anyway, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Minsoo."

"Minsoo? Yugyeom asked us not to invite her, remember? He said she was being rude to Junior and he would probably end up fighting her if he saw her again." Jaebum says as he puts the cake on the table next to all the other food he's prepared. Now all he's waiting for are Junior's cookies he promised to bake...

"Yeah, well, I think she's really hot and I want to kiss her a midnight." Jackson explains.

"Okay, but then she's your responsibility tonight. You can't let her out of your sights."

"Sure, sure. I got it. Like I would let her out of my sights anyway. Kissing will happen between us tonight. It will." Jackson grins.

"You're kind of creepy." Jaebum tells him.

"Thanks. I hope she doesn't think that."

"Well, just be careful of what you do."

Suddenly, the two guys hear the door open. They listen carefully and hear two bickering people coming down the hall. It's none other than the _lovely couple_ themselves.

"Stop it. Let go. I told you I've got it." Junior raises his voice at Mark.

"Why can't you just let me help you? You won't let me do anything." Mark raises his voice right back at him.

"Why are you guys fighting?" Jackson questions the couple.

"Jinyoung won't let me do anything." Mark complains.

"I won't let you do anything because I tried to let you help me with the first batch of cookies but somehow you messed those up horribly. Then you dropped the second batch on the way here, so the only salvageable batch is this one here, and I _will not_ let you get your filthy hands on these precious cookies." Jinyoung retorts. He takes a deep breath before practically slamming the tray of cookies down onto the food table.

"You good?" Jackson asks him.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just need a little time to relax." Jinyoung sighs just as Yugyeom, Youngjae, and Kunpimook walk in.

"Hey Junior." Yugyeom and Youngjae greet.

"What's wrong, Jinyoung?" Kunpimook asks his friend.

"Mark." Jinyoung responds.

"What did you do this time?" Kunpimook questions.

"Well, I kind of... Burnt the first batch of cookies and then dropped the second batch, and we couldn't really afford more ingredients so we only have one small batch left..." Mark scratches the back of his neck nervously.

"You're really lucky I like you so much, that's all I'm saying." Jinyoung sighs.

"You know, the key to not burning cookies is to take them out at the right time. Didn't you set a timer or something?" Youngjae asks.

"Yeah, I did that, but they still burnt." Mark nods.

"Did you put the oven at the right temperature?"

"Yep. Same exact temperature."

"Then how in the hell did you burn those cookies?" Youngjae is absolutely confused. Maybe Mark just sucks at baking.

"Well, stop fighting anyway." Jaebum sighs. "I guess everyone besides one last person is here so--"

"Hello?" Everyone suddenly hears a females voice. None other than Minsoo walks in with a big smile on her face.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jinyoung groans loudly. "What is she doing here?"

"Yeah, why is she here? I thought I told you not to invite her." Yugyeom whispers to Jaebum.

"Look, she's Jackson's guest. It's not my problem. He said he wouldn't let her out of his sight all night. If you have a problem, talk to him about it." Jaebum tells everyone, not caring that Minsoo was standing right there.

"Is that how you all really feel about me?" She pretends to be hurt.

"Of course not, Minsoo." Mark smiles at her. She swoons and Jinyoung elbows his boyfriend as hard as he can manage without leaving a bruise.

"Minsoo! I'm so glad you came!" Jackson suddenly appears out of nowhere and rushes up to Minsoo. He embraces her, quite awkwardly, before taking her hand and pulling her away from everyone. Jinyoung smiles at the panicked look on her face, and it surprisingly helps him to relax a little. If Jackson's good for anything, it's getting people's attention and keeping it.

"Anyway, how about we eat?" Jaebum says, dismissing Jackson and Minsoo.

"I'm starving." Mark responds as he heads for the table lined with food.

"Why, Junior doesn't feed you?" Jaebum asks.

"What am I? His pet?" Mark rolls his eyes. Jaebum just shrugs it off and everyone silently starts shoving their faces with food. Once satisfied with the amount in their stomachs and on their plates, they all make their way towards the couch to sit and relax.

Mark sits down first, and Minsoo immediately goes in for the kill. But Jinyoung is too fast. He actually sprints towards the couch and sits next to his boyfriend, who happily wraps his arm around Jinyoung. Minsoo glares daggers at Jinyoung, but he's just glad he got to his boyfriend before she did.

"Oh, Mark! Can I taste your food? I'm not sure if I'll like it, so I want to try a bit beforehand." Minsoo sits on the floor in front of Mark with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, sure." Mark agrees. Jinyoung is honestly wondering why Mark is so nice. He watches as Mark holds up whatever he grabbed from his plate to feed to Minsoo, but Jinyoung will not stand for this. He quickly grabs Mark's wrist and redirects his hand to his own mouth instead of Minsoo's.

"Mm. It's really good. I recommend it." Jinyoung tells Minsoo, who glares again and then gets up to get her own food. This lets Jinyoung relax for a minute.

"Jackson, I thought you said you'd watch her?" Yugyeom suddenly spits at his older friend. Everyone's a bit shocked at his outburst, but he quickly fixes everything. "How are you gonna show her you're a real man unless you take control?" Yugyeom asks.

"You're right, Gyeom. I have to take the reins." Jackson says determinedly as he stands. "Minsoo!" He calls as he walks over towards her. She looks over at him and jumps in surprise when he rips her plate from her hands. He takes a handful of whatever he can find and shoves it into her mouth. "It's good, right?" He grins at her. "You sit, I'll make your plate." He waves her away. She listens and is soon sitting at the opposite end of the couch.

"Well, that's one way to handle things." Jinyoung says to himself, amused.

"Who wants some champagne? I know it's a little premature, but my parents bought like ten bottles, so they won't mind if we have a few." Jaebum says, getting up to go get the liquor.

"Ten bottles? Why in the world did your parents by so much champagne?" Youngjae asks, bewildered. "Isn't that stuff like extremely expensive?"

"Do you not know my parents, guys? They buy like weird amounts of everything. Remember when we were in middle school and they got me five bookbags? I still have no idea why they did that. I think the weirdest things they bought were probably those twenty bags of dog food. We didn't even have a dog back then." Jaebum shakes his head. "Anyway, I'll be right back."

"Five bookbags? Twenty bags of dog food?" Mark asks himself. "That's so weird."

"Yeah, well, his parents have always been weird like that." Jackson shrugs as he hands Minsoo her plate. He plops himself right down next to her and nobody except for Jackson misses her disgusted face. To Jinyoung, that makes everything better.

"Okay, here." Jaebum walks back in with about four bottles and sets them all down.

"Are you really sure it'll be okay to drink these?" Kunpimook, who'd been quiet the whole time, speaks up.

"Of course. Maybe a little alcohol in your system will help you loosen up a little, Kunpimook." Jaebum slaps Kunpimook on the shoulder. He gets out eight red cups and starts pouring.

"This is a little jank, these cups." Youngjae notices as he takes one from Jaebum.

"Yeah, well, I didn't have the energy to buy those dumb plastic wine glasses, and we're not using real ones. I'm not doing the dishes." Jaebum makes clear.

He hands Mark and Jinyoung cups and neither of them hesitate to down the liquid. Everyone eyes them. "Sorry, it's been a rough day." Jinyoung says, coughing.

"Here, why don't you two have your own bottle? I think it'll be better this way." Jaebum hands Mark the new bottle and Mark opens it up to refill his and Jinyoung's cups.

Approximately forty three minutes later, Jinyoung is wasted. He's super drunk. "Who the hell gets drunk off of champagne?" Mark questions his boyfriend. "You're such a lightweight."

"Stop judging my life." Jinyoung slurs. Mark chuckles.

Minsoo sees this as an opportunity to talk to Mark without Jinyoung being able to get between them. She tries to get up from being next to Jackson, but before she can really move, he's wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Minsoo! Where are you going? I'll go with you!" He says happily up at her.

"I was just... Uh... Never mind." She sits down defeatedly.

"So are you two dating?" Kunpimook asks Jackson and Minsoo.

"Hell n--"

"Of course we are. Can't you see the chemistry between us?" Jackson states, cutting off Minsoo. She looks at him with wide eyes.

"That's cute. How long has it been?" Kunpimook questions.

"A few hours." Jackson smiles.

"That's so nice. I'm happy for you guys." Kunpimook tries desperately to hide his laughter. Poor Minsoo looks like she's scared for her life. Well, she got herself into this situation by trying to infiltrate the squad.

Did he just say _the squad?_

"Guys! There's thirty seconds until midnight!" Jaebum announces loudly. He frantically tears open a pack of noise makers and princess crowns. Mark grabs a crown and two noise makers from his friend and turns to his boyfriend.

"Here." Mark says, placing the crown on top of Jinyoung's head.

"What's this?" Jinyoung feels his head.

"A crown. It suits you well."

"Are you calling me a princess? You jerk, I'm not that uptight." Jinyoung frowns.

"I'm calling you a prince, because... I don't know. It was supposed to be a cute gesture, don't ruin it." Mark rolls his eyes.

Jinyoung boldly wraps his arms around Mark's neck and steps closer to his boyfriend. "There's twenty seconds." Jinyoung says, his breath smelling heavily of alcohol.

"Look at you. I thought you were scared to kiss me in front of other people?" Mark laughs, wrapping his arms around Jinyoung's waist.

"Well, I'm intoxicated, so it's okay."

"You're something else, Jinyoung." Mark chuckles.

"What am I?" Jinyoung asks.

"You're... Unique, and unlike anyone I've ever met before." Mark admits. "And I want to be with you forever."

"Mark..." Jinyoung is speechless. Nobody's ever said anything like this to him.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

"Jinyoung, I'm only telling you this now, because I know for a fact that you won't remember this in the morning..." Mark smiles as he holds his boyfriends face in his hands.

"Five, four, three..."

"I love you." Mark whispers. Jinyoung stares up at his boyfriend for a minute before reaching up to kiss him hard, and with as much passion as he can muster in that moment.

Mark thinks that Jinyoung really tastes like champagne, but he doesn't care, because this is the first time in their relationship that Jinyoung has initiated a French kiss without Mark trying to tell him that it's not embarrassing and that its natural.

"I love you too." Jinyoung says as he pulls away from Mark. Mark grins and is about to go in for another kiss when Jinyoung suddenly passes out. Mark struggles to hold his boyfriend up and suddenly sighs frustratedly.

"This is becoming a theme. You plus alcohol is not good." He says to his unconscious boyfriend.

"Gross. Keep it in your pants." Mark hears, and thinks they're talking about him and Jinyoung. That is until he sees Jackson and Minsoo. They're making out so hard it kind of looks like Minsoo is trying to struggle out of Jackson's grip. Funny.

Mark shakes his head and points his attention back to Jinyoung, who he somehow gets on his back. He grunts under all the weight, but quickly composes himself.

"Hey, JB, we're gonna head out." Mark says to his friend. Jaebum sees Mark's situation and nods quickly.

"Yeah, sure man. Get home safe, alright? Make sure you call me when you get there." Jaebum says.

Mark smiles. "Of course. I'll see you later. Have fun guys." Mark says to everyone.

"Bye, Mark." Kunpimook, Youngjae, and Yugyeom say. Mark smiles once more before exiting Jaebum's house. He sighs when the cold air hits him.

"Never again. You are never drinking again." Mark says to Jinyoung. He's only met by a sleepy groan. "At least you won't remember what I told you. I'll have to make it more romantic for you."

"Mm." Jinyoung keeps making incoherent sounds in his sleep.

"Maybe I'll have a whole big confession for you on Valentine's Day." Mark smiles at his own idea. "I think I'll do that." He decides. He really hopes that Jinyoung will reciprocate his feelings while sober. That would make Mark the happiest man in the world.


	15. February 14, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating! Here's a new part! I didn't edit it though, so sorry for any errors. Also, don't hate me for this lol.

Mark tried. He really did. He tried so hard to make a cake for Jinyoung, but it just didn't work out. So, now he's running back to his house, carrying a cake he bought from the bakery down the street. It's nice, too nice. It's so nice that Jinyoung will definitely know Mark didn't make it. But hey, it's the thought that counts. Besides, he made pretty much everything else. The food probably won't be any good, but he did it all for Jinyoung anyway.

As he sets the cake on the table and goes back into the living room, he looks around. Not enough sparkly red decorations. Mark grabs glittery streamers and those fake rose petals he bought from the Korean equivalent of Walmart and throws them all over the furniture and the ground, and decides to sprinkle a few rose petals towards his bedroom.

"Is that too much?" Mark asks himself. Would Jinyoung even want to do that with Mark? He's not sure. "Maybe I should get some candles." Mark thinks. He searches the house for any kind of candle he can find and ends up with a few from Bath and Body Works, a skittle flavored one, and three tea lights. Good enough. He sets them up strategically around the living room and kitchen, and sighs. He hopes this will be good enough. He's honestly never tried this hard for anyone. 

He really wants tonight to be special for both of them. He thinks that maybe they can take the next step in their relationship tonight. That's why the rose petals and the candles are so important. Usually, Mark doesn't really have to think twice about something like this, but since he wants to spend the rest of his life with Jinyoung, this is way more meaningful than anything else.

Mark has long since come to terms with the fact that he's in love with Jinyoung. He thinks it might've been love at first sight, or maybe he was just really hungry when Jinyoung bought him that kimbap. Anyway, Mark first realized he already loved Jinyoung when he first slept over at Mark's house, the night before Mark asked him out. It was the fact that Jinyoung seemed so comfortable being that close with Mark that made him realize his feelings.

As Mark is lost in his own thoughts, he hears the doorbell ring. 

"Oh my god, no. Please tell me he's not here! He's so early." Mark whispers nervously to himself. He quickly dashes towards the door and looks around at everything one last time before opening the door. But he's not met by Jinyoung. It's Minsoo.

"Hi." She smiles at Mark.

"Minsoo, hi. What are you doing here?" Mark asks.

"Well, I just... You know. I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by." She says evasively. Mark shrugs it off though and let's her inside.

"Don't you have plans with Jackson tonight?"

"Yeah... Later." She says. "It looks nice in here. Where's Jinyoung?" She questions, and Mark kind of feels weird that she's not calling him Junior like everyone else.

"He's probably still at home. I told him to come over at 6:45." Mark explains. Minsoo nods in understanding, another smile finding its way onto her face.

"I guess that gives me a little time to talk to you before he gets here then." She says. 

"Talk to me about what?"

"Well... Uh, what do you have planned for tonight?" Minsoo slightly changes the subject.

"Well, I made a bunch of stuff so Jinyoung and I can have a nice dinner, even though I can't cook that well. I hope this evening turns out romantic enough. I tried really hard to make it perfect." Mark smiles.

"You did this all for him..." Minsoo says quietly as she looks around. She then looks back at Mark. "Are you sure you... Want to be with him?"

"Of course. I... Love Jinyoung." Mark nods.

"Love's a strong word. Are you sure you love him?" Minsoo questions. Obviously that wasn't the answer she was looking for.

"Look, Minsoo, I know how you feel about me, but I love Jinyoung. I'm sorry." Mark tells her.

She looks at him with fierce eyes. "But why? What does he have that I don't have, Mark? Am I not beautiful enough? I don't believe that you're gay, Mark. I just can't believe it. Give me a chance." Minsoo begs, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but--"

"Please." She grabs Mark by his shirt and forces her lips onto his. Mark barely has any time to react. He's internally trying to figure out what's going on, but once he does, it's already too late.

At that exact moment, Jinyoung is happily walking up to Mark's door. He realizes he's a bit early, but he couldn't wait much longer. He went to get his boyfriend flowers and rushed over to his house. So here he is now, flowers in hand, making his way up to the door.

He doesn't bother knocking or ringing the doorbell since he's been here a million times before, he just walks right in and looks around with a smile on his face. That is until he sees Mark kissing Minsoo.

Jinyoung feels like everything going in slow motion, like his world is crumbling down before him. He freezes up and the beautiful red roses he bought fall to the ground.

"Mark..." Jinyoung says quietly, his voice strangled and sad. Mark suddenly forces himself away from Minsoo and looks at Jinyoung with wide eyes.

"Jinyoung." Mark says. "It's not what you think it is. I promise." He explains, but Jinyoung just stares at him and Minsoo. Mark can tell that no matter what he tries to say, Jinyoung won't hear it. But he has to try. All he can do is try to clear up this understanding.

"Jinyoung--"

"Don't." Jinyoung says as he stares right at Mark. That atmosphere is tense and silent. "Is this what you wanted? Huh? To humiliate me?" Jinyoung asks, his voice cracking as his eyes start to fill with tears. 

"No, I would never--"

"I knew there was something about you, Mark. I knew I should've stayed away from you. This was your plan the whole time, right?" Jinyoung asks, has voice now louder. "You lead me on just so you could slap me back into reality? Minsoo, huh?" Jinyoung eyes Minsoo.

"She has nothing to do with this, okay?" Mark manages to say.

Jinyoung scoffs incredulously. "She has nothing to do with this? It sure as hell looks like she has something to do with this. I mean, I just fucking caught you in the act, Mark."

"There's no act! There's nothing between us!" Mark shouts at his boyfriend. He tries to step towards Jinyoung, but Jinyoung takes a step backwards.

"Yes there is, Mark." Minsoo cries suddenly. Mark stares at her with a fire in his eyes, and Jinyoung can feel his heart physically breaking at her words.

"Jinyoung--"

"Don't, Mark. Just don't. Don't call me Jinyoung anymore. I never should've opened up to you. I never would have if I had known you would fuck me over like this." Jinyoung sniffles, trying to seem angry and scary, but really just being broken.

"Don't say that." Mark rushes up to Jinyoung and tries to take his hands. "Jinyoung, I love you." Mark says, emotion thick in his voice.

"Love me?" Jinyoung's tears finally spill over onto his cheeks. He scoffs and gives Mark a chilling smile. "What a fucking joke. Let go of me." Jinyoung jerks his hands away from Mark. "Don't come near me again. I fucking hate you." Jinyoung hiccups his last words of between his tears and rushes out of the house.

Mark tries to go after him, but a crying Minsoo stops him. "M-Mark." She sniffles.

"What? What do you fucking want from me?" Mark shouts in her face. "Leave, Minsoo! Leave and never come back. I never want to see you again!" Mark screams without any control. He doesn't care when Minsoo starts bawling her eyes out, trying to talk to him. He blocks it out as he shoves her out the door. 

After the door closes, Mark sinks down to the ground, trying to drown out the sound of Minsoo banging and screaming for him. Eventually she leaves and Mark is left with his own thoughts.

Should he go after Jinyoung or give him some time to calm down? Did he go home? Did he go to Jaebum's? Did he even make is home safely?

All of these concerning questions float around in Mark's mind, bugging him. He needs to know that Jinyoung is okay.

He pulls out his phone to call his boyfriend. He doubts Jinyoung will answer, but there's no harm in trying. He quickly dials the number and then listens to the phone ring a million times before he's met with the sound of Jinyoung's voicemail.

"Jinyoung. Please hear me out. It's her. It's all her. I don't have any feelings towards her. Why would I? I already told you I don't have any feelings towards her? Why do you so quickly choose everyone else's sides over mine? Why can't you just trust me? Do you really think I'd hurt you so readily? I mean... who do you think I am? What do you think I am? Some kind of heartless jerk? I love you. I will always love you. Please, Jinyoung. Please call me back." Mark says and then hangs up. He just hopes that Jinyoung will listen to his message and call him back.

"Maybe I should just go out and look." Mark says to himself. He sighs and gets up, wiping the tears stains off of his face the best that he can. He heads out the door and starts thinking of anywhere Jinyoung might have gone.

Little does Mark know that Jinyoung won't be at any of the places he has in mind. He's not at his mother's house, at Jaebum's or at Jackson's either. He's at his father's house with Yugyeom, crying his eyes out as he attempts to relay his story to his stepbrother.

"H-he just... he tried to explain but I know what I saw." Jinyoung sniffles loudly as he talks. Yugyeom solemnly hands his brother the tissue box and Jinyoung gratefully takes it.

"Are you sure, Junior? I mean, I'm not trying to doubt you, but I just can't see Mark doing something like that." Yugyeom shrugs and Jinyoung sighs.

"I know what I saw, Yugyeom. It was right in front of me, okay?"

But Yugyeom just doesn't know what to do. Let's say what Jinyoung is saying actually happened. It must be all Minsoo. Yugyeom has seen the any Mark looks at Jinyoung. He knows that they love each other. other. This has to be some kind of misunderstanding.

"I'll be right back, okay? I'm gonna make you some tea to calm you down." Yugyeom says as he gets up to exit his room. "You rest, okay? If you need to sleep, go ahead."

"Thank you." Jinyoung sniffles. Yugyeom leaves and shuts the door behind him. He goes down to the kitchen, but once he's there, he calls Mark.

"Hello? Yugyeom?" Mark answers.

"What happened Mark?" Yugyeom asks.

"Is he there? Oh thank god. I was so scared. I've been walking around and calling anyone I can, but I didn't think he'd go to you." Mark sighs.

"He's here, yeah. So don't worry. But he told me you were... kissing Minsoo. Please tell me everything is all a misunderstanding. I don't want to believe you'd hurt Junior." Yugyeom says into the phone nervously.

"Of course it's a misunderstanding. I'd never do something like that to him. I care way too much about him." Mark says defensively. "I need to come over."

"No, Mark. Don't. Coming over now will only do more harm, okay? Just... If you really care about him, let him have a title space to think. You know how stubborn he is." Yugyeom explains hastily.

Mark is silent for a moment before realizing that Yugyeom is probably right. "Okay, but once you think he's better, please call me right away. I don't want him to think I'd ever do something like this to him." The sadness in Mark's voice just breaks Yugyeom's heart.

"Okay, I will. I'm gonna go check on him again now." Yugyeom responds.

"Okay." Mark hangs up first and Yugyeom sighs to himself. Before going back into his room he goes to make Jinyoung that tea he promised him.

He goes straight into the kitchen and quickly makes a cup. Just as he's about to go back up to his room though, the front door opens. He looks over, startled. What he sees isn't what he expected.

"Hey, Gyeom. We're home." Yugyeom's mother and stepfather smile at their son. Yugyeom freezes, internally panicking.

"What are you doing back so soon? I thought you had a cruise to go in?" Yugyeom asks in a hurry.

"Well, we decided to come back a little early." His stepfather shrugs. Suddenly his eyes trail down to Yugyeom's hands.

"Two cups? Do you have someone over?" His mother questions first. He thinks about his answer before carefully answering.

"I do. It's just a fr--"

"Yugyeom?" He hears his older brother suddenly call his name from the top of the stairs. Everything freezes. "Yugyeom? Are you alright down there? I thought I heard someone talking." Suddenly Jinyoung's footsteps start coming down the stairs.

When he gets to the bottom, he regrets ever coming to make sure his little brother was okay. Standing there with rage in his eyes is his father. The one who disowned him and kicked him out of the house.

"D-dad..." Jinyoung stutters.


	16. February 14, 2015 - February 20, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOMESTIC VIOLENCE! BEWARE!

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jinyoung's father yells suddenly.

Jinyoung freezes, not sure how to respond. He thought his father and stepmother were supposed to be on that cruise for Valentine's Day. Why are they back? He distinctly remembers Yugyeom telling him they would be on that cruise for a week.

"Yugyeom? What's the meaning of this?" Jinyoung's father looks to his stepson with rage in his eyes.

"I-I..." Yugyeom freezes, unsure of how to clear everything up. He can't stand up to his stepfather, and he can't turn his back on Junior. What can he do?

"I forced my way in. I forced him to let me inside. It's not his fault." Jinyoung finds himself quickly spitting out. He tries to control the panic in his voice, but doesn't quite mask it enough for his father to let it slide.

"So what? Now you two are all buddy buddy? Huh?" His father raises his voice and Jinyoung glances at his stepmother, but she looks just as afraid as the two boys. "Are you a faggot now too, Yugyeom?"

"Don't use that word." Yugyeom says quietly, not daring to look up at his stepfather.

"What?"

"I said, don't say that. Don't use that word. It's mean and deragatory." Yugyeom says a little louder this time.

"I'll say whatever the hell I want to."

"I already told you none of it was his fault. Stop trying to start something." Jinyoung yells suddenly. Everyone looks at him. "You're always trying to start some kind of argument whenever I'm involved and I'm fucking tired of it." He stares right into his fathers eyes without once wavering.

"How about you shut the hell up and get out of my house." His father spits back at him.

"Why don't you leave Yugyeom alone?" Jinyoung glares. He can see his fathers face reddening with rage. That's when he rushes towards Jinyoung and grabs him by the neck.

"You ungrateful little bastard!" His father screams.

"Let go of him!" Yugyeom tries grabbing onto his stepfather, but the older man pushes Yugyeom back, causing him to fall onto the floor.

"I should teach you how to be a real man." Jinyoung's father says as he backs his son into a wall roughly before tightening his grip on Jinyoung's neck.

The thoughts swimming around in Jinyoung's head right now are not good ones. Yeah, him and his father have butted heads before and have argued, but it's never reached this point before. His father has never gotten physical with him like this and Jinyoung is honestly scared for his life right now.

"Honey, stop!" Yugyeom's mother finally pipes in, but she's quickly silenced as Jinyoung's father backhands her.

"Shut the hell up!" He screams before looking at his son again.

Jinyoung has had it at this point. It's one thing to hurt him, but to hurt the family he's tried so hard to protect? This man is fucking crazy.

Jinyoung tries to pry his fathers hands off of his neck and then lunge at him. "What? Do you think I'm not afraid to really hurt you?" His father screams as he throws a punch.

"Stop it!" Yugyeom shouts, trying to hold his stepfather back. Jinyoung presses a hand to his eye where his father hit him.

"You're a fucking psychopath!" Jinyoung yells. That only fuels his father more, though. He punches again, making Jinyoung fall to the ground. "Hit me." Jinyoung yells again, now provoking his father.

"Junior, stop!" Yugyeom and his mother are now sobbing. "Dad, stop it." Yugyeom cries. He can't watch as his stepfather punches his brother right in the jaw.

"I've always fucking hated you." Jinyoung says to his father as he sits on his knees before him, bloody and bruised. He's already getting beaten up, so he might as well get everything off of his chest, he thinks. "You're a piece of shit, and I wish you weren't my father."

"I'm the piece of shit here? I never asked for a faggot son, now did I?" His father yells.

"Fuck you." Jinyoung spits. Literally. He spits the blood pooling in his mouth at his father, and that was the last straw. Before Jinyoung can say anything else, everything around him goes dark.  
-

Mark didn't sleep all week. He definitely didn't sleep on Valentine's Day, and the few days after weren't any different. He still hasn't heard from Jinyoung, and the only things that are going through his mind at the moment are everything that could've gone wrong between the time he talked to Yugyeom on the phone to now. He's tried calling Yugyeom after that, but he hasn't been answering his phone either. It's obvious that something has happened. 

It's Monday morning and Mark really should be in class, but instead he's in the boys bathroom, pacing. He's been like this since he arrived at the school. It's been maybe two hours now. He knows that Jinyoung isn't at school because his little clique hasn't seen him either. He's texted and called him, but nothing seems to be going through. His phone must be off or something. He's honestly been contemplating whether or not he should call Jinyoung's mother. Would that be crossing the line? Does she know about what happened and does she resent Mark now?

Mark looks down at his phone before clicking on the contact for Jinyoung's mother. He brings his phone to his ear and listens to it ring nervously. Will she pick up? What if she's blocked Mark's number by now? What if--

"Hello?" She answers. Mark let's out a relieved sigh, but notices that her voice sounds tired.

"Mom." He says.

"Oh, Mark." She says. "What is it?" She asks.

"Where's Jinyoung? I haven't been able to get a hold of him since Saturday." Mark subconsciously bites at his nails as he speaks.

"Um..." Jinyoung's mother hesitates for a minute. "Mark, he's not well right now."

"Not well? What do you mean? Did something happen?" Mark stops pacing and his eyes go wide.

"Look, Mark. I shouldn't have told you that. Please just give Jinyoung some time to recover, okay?" She says.

"Wait, what?"

"I've gotta go now. I'm sorry."

"Wait." The line goes dead though. Mark pulls his phone away from his ear and looks at his screen in shock. "What happened to him?"

Mark texts Yugyeom again, and then Jaebum. Only Jaebum responds though.

_I heard Junior's in the hospital. I guess his dad beat him up. That's some fucked up shit right there if you ask me._

Mark's shocked as he reads the text he had just received. Jinyoung's in the hospital? His father beat him up? When did all of this happen? Is he okay? How badly was he beaten up? Is the reason he hasn't said anything to Mark because he's unconscious? Or is he still mad? So many questions without answers.

Someone enters the bathroom and Mark looks over to see Kunpimook. "Kunpimook!" Mark says.

"Hey."

"Have you heard anything about Jinyoung?"

Kunpimook gives Mark a nervous look. "We're not supposed to say anything to you, Mark." He tells his friend.

"What? Why not?"

"Yugyeom asked us not to. He said it'll only make you worry more since it's not like you can go see Junior right now." Kunpimook shrugs.

"Give me your phone." Mark says suddenly. Kunpimook hesitantly hands it over and Mark goes through his texts. Nothing. So he decides to call Yugyeom.

The phone rings a few times before Yugyeom picks up. "Hello?"

"What the hell is going on?" Mark shouts. The other end is silent for a minute.

"Mark, listen--"

"No, you listen, Gyeom. What the hell is happening with Jinyoung? I heard he got beat up and is in the hospital? Why are you trying to keep something like this from me?" Mark yells.

"What was I supposed to do? Huh?" Yugyeom now raises his voice too. "Was I supposed to tell you about everything and let you worry? It's not like you can come see him. Junior doesn't want you here." Yugyeom says. Mark feels like he's just been shot in the heart. He knows he's right, but did he really have to be that brutal?

"What's his condition like? Just tell me." Mark sighs.

"He has a few broken ribs, a black eye." Yugyeom says dejectedly. "I saw it all happen and I couldn't do anything about it."

"Why couldn't you? You couldn't get in there and break up the fight?" Mark yells.

"What the hell do you want from me, Mark? What was I supposed to do? Go in there and get beat up too? Unlike you or Junior, I have to live with that man. He even hit my own mother! I'm not risking my mothers safety, I'm sorry. He's my brother, but he shouldn't have provoked him like he did." Yugyeom raises his voice.

"You should've done something. Anything."

"Well, don't you think this is your fault?" Yugyeom suddenly blames. "If you hadn't kissed Minsoo--"

"Are you seriously pinning this on me right now? I did not kiss Minsoo. I would never do that to Jinyoung. I fucking care about him." Mark screams, letting tears form in his eyes and fall to his cheeks.

"Look, I've gotta go. I don't have time to argue with you like this." Yugyeom says, suddenly hanging up. Mark looks at the phone in his hand before squeezing it tightly, getting ready to throw it.

"Hey, stop." Kunpimook grabs the phone from Mark's grasp. "Throw your own phone."

"Even Yugyeom has turned on me now." Mark crumples to his knees, trying to stop crying. He looks up at Kunpimook. "You know I would never do that to him, right?" He asks.

Kunpimook rests a hand on Mark's shoulder. "Of course. I know how much you care about him. Right now is just a difficult time for everyone. Junior's in the hospital and everyone's worried, not just you. Understand that Yugyeom doesn't mean to be like this. He's just... emotional." Kunpimook explains.

Mark nods. He's right. Nobody knows how to feel right now, and Mark shouldn't have yelled at him. He said he was there as Jinyoung was getting beaten up. Mark doesn't know what kinds of things he saw.

"I just hope he's okay." Mark whispers to himself.

As Mark is thinking about Jinyoung, Yugyeom is thinking about Mark. He had promised Junior that he wouldn't tell Mark anything, but he's broken his promise.

Yugyeom walks down hallways and around corners in the hospital to get to his brother's room again. Once there, he sees he's awake.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Yugyeom rushes to the side of the bed. 

"I'm fine. Well, if I don't move around too much." Jinyoung says. He lets out a sigh. "Ouch."

"Don't do things like that." Jinyoung's mother says worriedly. "Mark called me a little while ago."

"I just got off the phone with him." Yugyeom says.

"You didn't say anything to him, did you?" Jinyoung asks.

"He's already found everything out." Yugyeom sighs.

"How?"

"I'm guessing it was Jaebum. Who else would tell him? He called from Kunpimook's phone though, so who knows."

"I didn't want him to know." Jinyoung says. The thought of Mark makes tears well up in his eyes. "I hate myself."

"What? Why are you saying that?" Jinyoung's mother asks, taking her sons hand.

"I love him. That's why. After what he did to me... I still love him." Jinyoung sniffles. "I hate that."

Yugyeom internally bashes himself as he thinks of what he said to Mark over the phone. He knows that Mark would never hurt Jinyoung like that, so he doesn't know why he said that to him.

"I know you don't want to believe this, but Mark wouldn't do something like that to you. Just think about it, Junior. You saw it before anyone else did. You saw how Minsoo was trying to make moves on him, but he never did anything before. Does it really make sense that he'd do that now?"

"I don't know what makes sense anymore. All I know is that he hurt me. I can't believe you're taking his side." Jinyoung looks at Yugyeom.

"I'm not taking sides, I'm just... I don't believe Mark would do that." Gyeom shrugs.

"I'm with Yugyeom, honey. I know that Mark loves you. You can see it when he looks at you. It must've been that girl." His mother says to him.

"I don't want to talk about him anymore. I've made up my mind."

Yugyeom sighs. "You're so stubborn." 

Jinyoung turns his head to the side and closes his eyes. All he can think about is Mark. Did he really overreact? Would Mark do that to him? Did Jinyoung make a huge mistake?

"We should let him rest." Jinyoung can hear his mother whisper. He listens to the sounds of shuffling feet before the door to his room closes. That's when he just can't hold it in anymore. Jinyoung just cries. He cries and let's everything he's been holding in all this time.

His boyfriend may or may not have cheated on him, he got beaten up by his father, and it just feels like nobody's on his side. He lets himself fall into a deep sleep, not even trying to worry about what's to come.


	17. February 27, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will not be as angsty! Things will start to look up!

It's been two weeks. Mark has tried relentlessly to get a hold of Jinyoung with no avail. He feels like giving up at this point, but if he does, Jinyoung might take it the wrong way. Maybe he'll think Mark doesn't think he's worth fighting for or something. Mark doesn't know. All he knows is that Jinyoung is stubborn and misunderstands things very easily.

Mark walks into school. He doesn't expect anything out of the ordinary, but is met by just that. Standing in the hall harassing anyone who passes by is Jinyoung. It's _Jinyoung_. He's out of the hospital? Since when?

Mark quickly runs up to him. "Jinyoung!" Mark says. Jinyoung looks at Mark with an expression of pure disgust and hatred.

"Who are you calling Jinyoung?" He raises his voice at Mark. "Its Junior to you."

"J-Jinyoung..." Mark is shocked and not sure what to think. So he spent the last two or so weeks worrying about his boyfriend who is now acting like nothing has ever happened between them and is looking at him in the most menacing way ever? Please let this be some kind of horrible nightmare.

"What did I just tell you?" Jinyoung approaches Mark, pushing him slightly.

"Hey, don't push me around. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Mark yells.

"Me? What's wrong with me?" Jinyoung asks, teeth gritted with anger. His eyes are glossy with tears, but he doesn't let them fall. How dare Mark ask what's wrong with him?

What's wrong with Mark? He cheated on Jinyoung.

"Why are you acting like this towards me?" Mark asks. "Don't do this." He tries to hold Jinyoung's hand, but Jinyoung panics and pushes Mark so hard that he falls onto the ground. Mark is stunned. He can't believe Jinyoung has just put his hands on him like that.

"Leave me alone before you regret it." Jinyoung spits. He motions for his cronies to follow him as he walks down the hall away from Mark. All Mark can do is watch him disappear from view.

"Mark..." He hears a voice. He looks up to see Kunpimook. He helps Mark to his feet. "Why did you do that? It was stupid."

"Why is he being like this?" Mark asks.

"Why wouldn't he be? He's gone through a lot recently. I just think you should give him some space for now."

"I can't do that though. I need to talk to him in private." Mark says. He starts to go towards the direction Jinyoung disappeared in, but Kunpimook stops him by grabbing his wrist.

"Mark, don't. He's in a bad place right now. We don't know what he'll do right now. Think of it as him being his old self again. He's dangerous."

"Jinyoung would never hurt me." Mark says confidently, but Kunpimook thinks otherwise. He's worried, but it seems like he can't stop Mark. He lets go and Mark starts off down the hall.

It doesn't take that long to find Jinyoung again. "Jin--Junior." Mark calls out. All eyes turn towards him as he walks up to Jinyoung. "Can I speak to you privately?"

"No."

"Please. This is important. Just let me talk to you and then I'll leave you alone." Mark says. Jinyoung's heart hurts at that. Is he giving up? Not that Jinyoung was making it easy to keep fighting, but still. Maybe Mark really doesn't love Jinyoung.

"Fine. But make it quick." Jinyoung says, leading Mark towards the boys bathroom. Once inside, he makes sure every stall is empty and he has his friends guard the entrance. "What?"

"Jinyoung..." Mark pulls Jinyoung into a hug, and Jinyoung is temporarily shocked. He just lets it happen for a moment before pushing Mark away. He doesn't want to remember the wonderful warmth of Mark's touch.

"Get off of me." Jinyoung spits like he has a bad taste in his mouth.

"Are you okay? I heard about you being in the hospital. Are you all healed now?" Mark asks. The concern in his voice makes Jinyoung's eyes water.

"Stop fucking with me. Stop acting like you care about me." Jinyoung says, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"I do care about you. I've been going crazy these past two weeks not knowing anything about your condition." Mark explains.

"Stop--"

"I love you. I can't just stop trying, Jinyoung." Mark says.

"Stop it!" Jinyoung screams. "Leave me alone. I don't care about you, I don't want you around!"

"Is that really how you feel?" Mark questions. 

Of course that's not how Jinyoung feels. But he's stubborn. He won't change how he's acting or apologize for it.

"Yes." He says bluntly. Mark can't read if this is a lie or the truth, but he can't bring himself to believe it either way.

"I guess I'm just as stubborn as you then, because I don't believe that." Mark swallows back the lump in his throat. Jinyoung doesn't stay to hear the rest, though. He wipes his eyes and rushes out of the bathroom. 

His friends all look at him as he comes out. "Lets go to the bridge." Jinyoung says. It's their usual hangout spot, and a place Mark probably won't be able to find that easily.  
-

After a few days of avoiding Mark, Jinyoung stops worrying about things and let's his previous emotions be taken over by the anger inside of him. He's really somehow convinced himself that Mark is the cause of everything that has happened to him. It's not true and it's horrible, but Jinyoung knows he's horrible.

When he walks into school on Friday, everyone seems to be whispering about something and staring at him. This is unusual. People usually wouldn't dare to do something like that.

He quickly finds his friends, and even they seem to be whispering about something. "What?" Jinyoung questions them.

"Well..." One of them start. "There's this rumor about you going around." He says nervously.

"A rumor?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of rumor?"

"Well..."

"What kind of rumor?" Jinyoung raises his voice at them.

"People are saying that you're gay. And that you're dating that Mark kid." They say awkwardly.

Jinyoung's expression darkens. Who did it? Who told everyone that? "I'm not gay." He tells them, teeth gritted in anger. "Who started that rumor?"

"We're not sure." They shrug.

"I thought it was that Mark kid. I mean, he's always trying to talk to you and seemed really mad at you the last time you talked. Maybe this is his revenge." Another one of Jinyoung's friends suggests. He has a weird glint in his eyes, but Jinyoung ignores that.

That makes a switch flip inside of Jinyoung. Did Mark really do this? He could have. Maybe he wants to bring Jinyoung down with him. This thought alone drives Jinyoung almost insane.

"Lets go find him then." He says, eerily calm. His friends don't seem to notice though, and follow him through the halls. It doesn't take long for them to find Mark. He's talking to Kunpimook.

"Kunpimook." Jinyoung calls out. Kunpimook turns and his eyes widen in fear when he sees Jinyoung. "Come here."

"Don't..." Jinyoung can read Mark's lips.

"It's fine." Kunpimook says quietly. He walks away from Mark and towards Jinyoung.

"Grab him." Jinyoung says as Kunpimook is halfway there. He freezes in place, waiting for Jinyoung's friends to tackle him or something, but they rush past him and grab Mark instead.

"W-what are you doing?" Kunpimook asks. Jinyoung slings his arm around Kunpimook's shoulders and they follow behind the guys as they drag Mark with them.

"Jinyoung! What are you doing? Tell them to let me go!" Mark struggles.

"Junior..." Kunpimook is scared. He knows what's about to happen to Mark. He can feel himself trembling.

"I don't remember if I ever really, truly apologized to you, Kunpimook." Jinyoung says as they walk outside and towards the bridge. A small crowd is starting to follow them as well. "I shouldn't have bullied you for no reason like I did back then."

"I-it's fine."

"It's not though. I was in the wrong. See, I've decided to change and only hurt people who hurt me first." Jinyoung says. Kunpimook is honestly scared at how emotionless he looks and sounds. They all stop under the bridge Jinyoung and his friends hang out at.

"What are we doing here?" Mark asks. Jinyoung removes his arm from around Kunpimook before approaching Mark quietly.

"Have you heard about a little rumor that's going around, Mark?" Jinyoung asks. Mark can't seem to focus on his question though. All he can see is how skinny and pale Jinyoung looks. Has he been sleeping or eating, it doesn't seem like it. His eyes look so empty and tired...

"What rumor?" Kunpimook is the one who asks instead.

"The rumor that you and I are dating. The rumor that I'm gay." Jinyoung raises his voice at Mark. He's seething with rage by now. "Was if you? Did you start that rumor?"

"What? Why would I say something like that?" Mark questions. "I'm not like that. I wouldn't start something like that."

"Why'd you do it, huh? You have some kind of crush on me?" Jinyoung yells.

It's silent for a moment before Mark speaks. "Yeah, I do." Mark says in all seriousness. Jinyoung's heart physically hurts at that. "I love you. So what?"

"You fucking faggot." Jinyoung spits. Everything goes silent and Mark stares at Jinyoung. Tears start filling his eyes.

"Don't you dare call me that." Mark says weakly. "After all those years of your father calling you that, you're using that on me?" Mark asks.

Jinyoung shakes his head. "Don't you dare bring my family into this like you know me. You don't know anything about me." Jinyoung screams. He doesn't hesitate to punch Mark right in the stomach. Mark gasps for air and coughs. He can't do anything about it though, because Jinyoung's friends have his arms restrained.

"J-Junior! Please stop." Kunpimook tries to gently tug Jinyoung away from Mark.

"Let go of me unless you want to end up like him." Jinyoung growls. Kunpimook immediately lets go and looks at Mark. What should he do? Should he try to stop the fight and get himself beaten up too?

Kunpimook can only watch in horror as Jinyoung and his friends beat up Mark, the only person who's probably ever understood Jinyoung. The one who opened him up and showed him the goodness of the world. But he's closed himself off, and has convinced himself that Mark is the problem. He's lost all sanity at this point.

When they all finish, Mark is laying on the ground, bloody and bruised, and it's so hard for Kunpimook to look. All he can do is cry as Jinyoung and his friends walk away. 

"M-Mark." Kunpimook rushes over to his friends side. He quickly pulls his phone out and calls an ambulance. After he gets off he phone, he turns around to see only Jinyoung still there, watching without an emotion evident in his eyes or on his face.

Internally, Jinyoung feels conflicted. He's trying his best to keep his emotions out of this though, and to convince himself that Mark deserved what he got. But aren't those emotions? It's the anger and rage that has built up over time.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kunpimook suddenly yells, snapping Jinyoung out of his trance. He sees and angry Kunpimook rushing towards him and let's him pull Jinyoung by his collar. "Why would you do this?"

"It had to be done."

"No it didn't! I can't believe you've hurt the only person that actually cared about you. Do you think everyone stuck around you because we liked you or thought of you as a friend?" Kunpimook shouts. Jinyoung looks at him in confusion. "We only stayed around because of Mark. Because he convinced us that you were a good guy. Even until the very end he was sure you would never do anything to hurt him. Now look what you've done. You've lost the person who cares the most, and anyone you thought of as a friend." Kunpimook shoves Jinyoung away before rushing back to Marks side. 

Jinyoung isn't sure how long he's been standing there looking at what he did to Mark, but once he hears sirens, he bolts. Once back inside the school, he goes to the bathroom to clean himself up.

He washes his hands and watches the red-tinted water go down the drain. He did what he wanted to do, and solved the problem, right? So why does he feel like shit? Why does he feel like he's just made the biggest mistake of all time?

He shakes the feeling off and decides to skip school. He doesn't think he can handle being around people right now.  
-

"You're saying you fell down the stairs?" The nurse taking care of Mark questions him again. He coughs before responding.

"The school has many floors, so yeah. I fell down the stairs." He responds, sticking to his statement. Even though what Jinyoung did to him was horrible, he can't hate him. He knows that this seems unhealthy and that he shouldn't still love him, but Jinyoung has gone through a lot in his life. He has a lot of issues. Mark knew this going into the relationship. He just can't bring himself to turn his back on Jinyoung. Not yet. His boyfriend is still in there somewhere.

"Alright..." The nurse nods skeptically, but drops the topic. "You're free to leave whenever, just be careful. Here are your crutches, and make sure you come back in three weeks to get this cast off." She explains. Mark nods and attempts to stand with Kunpimook's help.

"Lets go. I already called Jaebum to come get us." Kunpimook sighs. Mark nods at him and they slowly walk out of the hospital together. They're almost immediately met by Jaebum pulling his car to a stop and running out to help Mark into the backseat.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Jaebum questions, but nobody says anything. He looks to Kunpimook, who has a dark expression on his face.

"Let's start driving first." Kunpimook says. Jaebum nods and they get into his car. He start driving, but it's still silent.

"Look..." Mark starts. "Don't jump to conclusions when I tell you what happened, alright?" He tells his childhood friend.

"Okay..."

"Jinyoung did this to me." Mark says bluntly. Jaebum has no time to think before he's stepping on his brakes, causing all three of the boys to jerk forwards violently in their seats. Mark groans in pain.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Jaebum apologizes quickly before he starts driving normally again. "What do you mean by that? That Junior did this to you?" 

"He beat me up." Mark explains.

"What the fuck?"

"That's what I said." Kunpimook sighs. "Mark doesn't think Junior's done any wrong either. I was there the whole time. He seemed so... weird. He told me we were friends and wanted me to call him Jinyoung. He was like an empty shell." Kunpimook shivers in his seat.

"What the fuck?" Jaebum says yet again.

"Can you say anything else besides 'what the fuck'?" Mark sounds irritated now.

"No, I can't. What do you mean? What does this mean? Why did he do this?" Jaebum seems utterly confused.

"He thinks I spread a rumor about us dating around the school. He thinks I told everyone he's gay. I would never do that though." Mark frowns as he stares out the window. "Whoever did that is messed up. He's already been through enough. He didn't need this on top of everything." 

"Pull the car over." Kunpimook says suddenly. His voice is cold and flat sounding.

"What?" Jaebum looks over at him briefly.

"Pull the fucking car over!" Kunpimook screams. The car is silent as Jaebum complies with his younger friends orders. Once they're parked, Kunpimook looks back at Mark.

"Wha--"

"Did something happen to your brain? Did he punch you in the fucking head or something?" He yells at Mark. "He fucking beat you up and you're sitting here defending him and talking about how his life is hard? Is this real life? Am I caught in some kind of messed up nightmare?" Kunpimook is so loud that even people who are passing the car are looking inside to see what's going on.

"Look, I understand why you might think this is weird, but he needs help--"

"Yeah, he really does. He should go to a mental institution. All this over one single kiss? A kiss that wasn't even a kiss? Is he a psychopath? Who thinks that a kiss should result in beating up your ducking boyfriend?" Kunpimook shouts. "You need to stay away from him. He's not sane, Mark! I'm telling you this as a friend. I told you to stay away from him. We all did."

"Can I spea--"

"You did this to yourself, you know that?"

"Can you let me speak?" Mark raises his voice. "You don't know anything about Jinyoung, okay? He has issues, but that doesn't mean he needs to be in a mental hospital.

"I know you don't want to hear this Mark, but Kunpimook is right. You never should've gotten close to him. I told you he was bad news." Jaebum adds.

"You too? I thought you warmed up to him." Mark feels hurt.

"I did, but then he went and did this. I knew he would snap someday, just I didn't think it would be like this."

"Yeah, you always said that he would never hurt you, but what now? He hurt you. Can you really trust him blindly now?" Kunpimook asks. Mark is silent. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't want to argue about this anymore anyway. He knows that Jinyoung didn't mean what he did, and that he's just in a strange place right now.

"Take me home." Mark says, resting his head against the window. It's completely silent as Jaebum puts his car back into drive and merges onto the road again. It doesn't take them long to reach Marks house and help him inside. After they leave, Mark slowly makes his way to his bedroom. He feels empty inside. He doesn't know what to do or what to think. All he wants to do is go to sleep. So he does.


	18. March 3, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter because I have another bonus behind the scenes kind of chapter up next. Also, I didn't look through this so sorry if there are any mistakes!

A few days after everything happened, Jinyoung is walking around, doing everything he can to forget what he did. He regrets it so much, and doesn't know why he did that. He shouldn't have hurt Mark.

He decides to head to the convenience store to buy some snacks, but once he enters, he's met by the sight of Minsoo behind the counter. She smirks at him as he walks inside.

"Jinyoung... what a surprise." She says in a way that makes it seem like she knew she'd run into him sometime. Jinyoung tries to turn around and leave, but then Minsoo says something. "Did you like them?" She asks.

Jinyoung stops and looks back at her. "Like what?" He asks, annoyed.

"The rumors I spread about you?" She smiles menacingly. Jinyoung freezes. What? Minsoo spread those rumors?

"Stop lying. You don't even go to school with me." Jinyoung says, his voice trembling.

"Well, duh. That's why I bribed your 'friends' to do it. I showed them proof of your relationship and they happily spread the rumors, and even made you think Mark did it." Minsoo laughs. "I heard you beat him up real badly. Must've been hard for you."

Jinyoung rushes towards the counter and tries to grab Minsoo. "Why did you do it, huh?" He yells. "Why would you do this?"

"If I can't have Mark, nobody can." Minsoo screams back. Jinyoung is now fully convinced that he's not the crazy one here. He is one hundred percent sure that Minsoo is the one who needs to be committed.

"You crazy bitch. What have you done? What have you made me do?" Jinyoung yells. He grabs at his hair and squeezes his eyes shut. 

He's fucked up. He's fucked up. He's fucked up so badly. There's no way he can fix this.

In a rush, Jinyoung runs out of the store and towards the only place he can think of right now. He runs towards Jaebum's house.

He reaches it in no time, and frantically knocks on the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He beards form the other side. The door opens, and once Jaebum realizes who it is he's looking at, he punches Jinyoung right in the jaw. Shocked, he stumbles and falls in his behind.

"Listen, I have something to say." Jinyoung says, trying to stand up.

"I don't want to hear it. You disgust me." Jaebum says. Kunpimook suddenly comes or from behind him to see what's going on.

"Kunpimook." Jinyoung says.

"What are you doing here? Seriously? Did you think it would be a good idea to show your face around us?" He questions. "I told you he needs to go to a mental hospital. He's fucking crazy."

"Listen. I shouldn't have done that. I... I messed up." Jinyoung is now trying his hardest not to cry.

"Don't you think it's a little too late for that?" Jaebum asks. "You beat up your only friend. He doesn't want anything to do with you now." Jaebum lies for the sake of Mark. Kunpimook doesn't protest or tell the truth either. This is for the good of Mark.

"M-Mark..." Jinyoung sniffles. "Does he really not want anything to do with me?"

"Why would he want to see you after you hurt him like that? He has broken ribs and a broken leg." Jaebum responds. "He always would say that you'd never hurt him, but you did. He can't trust you anymore."

"I-I--"

"I think you should leave and go get some help, Junior." Kunpimook adds. "That's your only option if you want someone to talk to. You don't have any friends anymore. You don't even have a brother. Gyeom is with us. He can't believe you would do something like that to Mark."

His own brother is against him too... Jinyoung should've seen this coming to be honest. Mark is so nice and friendly, that who wouldn't be on his side? Jinyoung hurt someone precious, and he can never be forgiven for that.

"Just leave." They say to Jinyoung before the door closes in his face. He slowly gets up, sobbing by now, and goes home. There's just no way to fix this, is there? Jinyoung was impulsive and hurt the only person who's ever been able to open him up. He hurt the only person he's ever truly loved all because of one dumb girl. He should've trusted Mark. He really should have. But what can he do now?

As Jinyoung slowly walks back to his house, he pulls his phone out and listens to all the voicemails from  
Mark he hasn't been able to listen to yet. He sounded so worried and angry that Jinyoung would believe he would cheat on him. He sounded hurt and sad.

"Jinyoung, I love you. Please come back to me." One voicemail said. Jinyoung can only cry and listen to that over and over again. Then, on a whim, Jinyoung calls Mark.

It goes straight to voicemail. Maybe his phone is off, Jinyoung thinks. Once it beeps so that he can leave a message, Jinyoung chokes. He lets out a sob before covering his mouth. "M-Mark..." He sniffles. "I understand if you never want to talk to me again or see me again or anything. I just... I love you and I'm sorry for what I did. I'm so sorry. Minsoo... everything was her fault. She told me she started those rumors because if she couldn't have you, nobody could. I know that I'm fucked up, but she really is. I just want to apologize for ever thinking you'd hurt me in any way, and I know that you'll probably never forgive me, but I just wanted to--"

The phone beeped again to signal the end of the message. Jinyoung defeatedly puts his phone back in his pocket before continuing home. When he arrives, his mother is there with a smile on her face, but when she sees her son it disappears.

"Honey... you don't look too well. How are you feeling?" She puts her hand to her sons forehead before pulling him towards the kitchen. "You look so skinny and pale. You need to eat. She sits him down at the table and puts a full plate of food in front of him.

"I'm not hungry." Jinyoung tries to get up.

"You're not leaving until you eat everything, okay? It'll help you feel better. Now eat." His mother orders with nothing but love and concern in her eyes. Jinyoung nods, not wanting to disappoint his mother too. So he starts eating.

"Everyone hates me, mom." Jinyoung starts as he shovels bite after bite into his mouth.

"What? Why would you say that? It's not true." She takes his free hand in hers.

"It is though. I did something horrible to someone and now I'm paying the price. I deserve this." Jinyoung's eyes start to water.

"Honey, what happened?"

"I... Mark..." Jinyoung sniffles before wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "I did something horrible to Mark, mom. And I think he hates me."

"What did you do?"

Jinyoung meets his mothers eyes, scared. "I hurt him. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I hurt him because I thought he hurt me, but I was wrong and stupid. It was all Minsoo's fault, and now I've lost all of my friends. Even Yugyeom hates me now. I've lost everything." Jinyoung is sobbing by now, and his mother pulls him into her arms.

"Jinyoungie, you shouldn't have done that." His mother says. She understands what he means when he says he hurt Mark. "But I know Mark. I know he doesn't hate you. He could need some space, sure, but I don't think he could ever hate you. Give it some time." She kisses her sons forehead. "Why don't you take a little nap or something. Give me your phone too. No distractions for now." She says. Jinyoung nods. "Finish eating first."  
-

Mark slowly awakens from his sleep, teaching over to grab his phone from his nightstand. He tries to turn it on, but it's dead.

He slowly reaches over to plug it in, trying not to cause himself too much pain. He waits for a few minutes until it turns itself on. That's when he gets a bunch of texts from his friends, but one thing catches his eye. It's a missed call and voicemail from Jinyoung.

Without hesitation, Mark brings his phone up to his ear to listen to the voicemail, almost crying when he hears Jinyoung's trembling voice. Mark swallows hard, trying his best to stay composed as his boyfriend apologizes over the phone.

"I knew you'd never do something like this, Jinyoungie. I knew it." Mark sniffles a little. He sets his phone down and thinks. He really wants to go and see Jinyoung, but he's not in a good enough condition to be moving around right now. Maybe he should give Jinyoung a little time to think too. Maybe that'll be the best for him. Maybe he needs time to calm down.

Mark shakes his head, deciding he can't wait that long to talk to Jinyoung, and he tries to call him. But the phone just rings and rings. So decides to leave a voicemail of his own. At least, that's the idea. He can't though, because his phone had come unplugged right when he was about to. Of course. But Mark decides he should probably wait like he originally decided to. He shouldn't do anything rash.

Mark slowly attempts to get out of his bed, and clumsily uses his crutches to go to the living room. Fortunately and unfortunately, his parents are just arriving home at this time.

Once they see Mark, all hell breaks loose. His parents are literally sprinting towards him now.

"Mark? What happened?" His mother yells, scared.

"I... I had an accident at school." Mark admits.

"An accident?"

"I was beaten up, but I'm okay. Kunpimook took me to the hospital." Mark explains. He decides it's better not to lie to his parents about what happened.

"Beaten up?" His father asks, outraged. "Who? We're pressing charges." 

"Dad, no." Mark starts.

"Mark, yes. Some punks just beat up my son and you expect me to--" Suddenly his father is cut off by a knock at the door.

The three all look at each other before Mark's mother goes to answer the door. Standing there are three people Mark never really expected to see again. It's Chris, Jordan, and Josh. Those three guys that told him to stay away from Jinyoung.

"Hello, do you kind if we speak to Mark for a moment? We heard about what happened to him and wanted to see if he was okay." Chris says to Mark's parents. They let the three boys inside and they approach Mark.

"Uh, hi." Mark says. He looks to his parents. "Can you give us some privacy for a minute?" He asks. They nod reluctantly before leaving to go into another room somewhere.

"How do you feel?" Chris asks.

"Just fine." Jinyoung replies.

"Be honest. You don't feel fine. You look like shit."

"Who are you to tell me that?" Mark asks.

"I'm just a friend. A friend who told you so. You shouldn't have been hanging around that guy."

"First my friends and now a stranger? You guys don't know anything about Jinyoung." Mark gets defensive. "He didn't do anything wrong. He just has some issues. You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't understand? I've gotten beaten up by him countless times." Chris tells Mark, a severe look in his eyes. "You need to stay away from him."

"Why don't you stay away from the both of us? I never asked for your help or whatever it is you're trying to give me. Don't come to my home and try to convince me that Jinyoung's a bad person." Mark yell suddenly. Chris is taken aback at this.

"I guess if you're this disillusioned, there's no hope for you." He lets out a humorless laugh. "We're just trying to help, but I guess you don't want it."

"I don't." Mark makes clear.

"Fine. But don't come running to us when he really fucks you over." Chris says before exiting Mark's house with his two friends. Mark sighs once they're gone.

"What all this about Jinyoung?" Mark hears his mother's voice. He turns to see his parents standing there.

"Nothing." Mark shakes his head.

"Did Jinyoung do this to you?" They question their son.

"No... but his fake friends did. He had nothing to do with it. Those guys just have something against him." Mark sighs. "I'm not really in the mood to talk now. They kind of ruined it."

"Well, we're talking about this when you get better." They make clear to their son. Mark nods slowly. For now, he just wants to relax and get better, and not worry about people trying to make Jinyoung out to be a bad guy. He just needs someone to help him, that's all.

Mark suddenly gets an idea and slowly makes his way back to his bedroom. He grabs his phone and calls Jinyoung's mother.

"Hello?" She answers after only a few rings.

"Hi." Mark says nervously.

"How are you, Mark? I heard about what happened." She asks. "You don't hate Jinyoung, do you?"

"I'm fine, and I could never hate Jinyoung. I love him. I just called because I think you should have him see someone. Seriously." Mark says.

"Yeah, I think you're right. After all of these years with all of that abuse from his father, I think he's finally cracked. He didn't mean to do that. You know that, right?"

"Of course. I just want him to get better. When he starts making progress, that's when I'll come see him." Mark says.

"Thank you for being there for him, Mark. You've really helped him."

"Thank you. I'll go now, so take care." Mark smiles.

"Thank you, you too. Bye." Mark hangs up and let's out a sigh. He feels better now that Jinyoung will we getting the help he needs. He just hopes that he can see him soon.


	19. Bonus: March 7, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a to of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick filler chapter! Also have not looked through this, so sorry if there are any mistakes. There will be another chapter up later today.

Jinyoung nervously plays with his fingers as he sits across from his psychiatrist. They've met two times so far. His mother has scheduled him three meetings a week to talk about everything, and when he starts to get better, she said she'd lessen the meetings to about once a week for him.

"You told me about your father, but is there a reason he's acting this way, Jinyoung?" The doctor asks. Jinyoung looks at her tag. Dr. Kwon, it reads.

"I-it's..." Jinyoung swallows hard. He has to say it, but it's hard. "It's because I'm g-gay." He stutters without looking up into the doctors eyes. "Ever since I told him, he's made a huge thing out of it and uses it against me. He made me think it was a bad thing... but then I met Mark."

"Mark?"

"He was the first person to ever really understand me. He opened me up and showed me that being gay wasn't bad. He loved me, and I loved him. I still love him, but I'm not sure if he feels the same after what I did to him. I feel horrible for doing what I did to him. I don't deserve him."

What did you do?" Dr. Kwon questions.

"A rumor was spreading around school that I was gay, and being so ashamed, I decided to prove it to everyone that I wasn't gay by beating up the guy they thought I was dating. I beat up my own boyfriend just to impress people who I don't care about." Jinyoung lets out a strangled sob, covering his mouth. "If I could, I'd turn back time and let people know. I don't care if they know now."

"Tell me more about Mark."

"He's the most wonderful, warm, happy person I've ever met. He doesn't judge anyone, and everyone pretty much loves him. When we met, I was still a huge bully and I had hurt a lot of people, but there was something about him. I just couldn't be mean to him. He was the only one who tried to get close to me. Even my so-called friends didn't try like he did. And I let him in. He didn't judge me, and was understanding. He protected me from myself too."

"He sounds like a great kid." Dr. Kwon cracks a smile.

"He is." Jinyoung nods. "I haven't talked to him since the day I beat him up though. I was so lost in my emotions at the time that I couldn't see the truth. Mark would never do anything to hurt me." Jinyoung sniffles. "You know, he used to say that about me. He would tell people who doubted our relationship that I would never hurt him. And I broke that trust."

"If what you're saying about Mark is accurate, he doesn't hate you or anything. I think he's giving you space to get better. From what your mother told me, he was the one who suggested this." Dr. Kwon tells Jinyoung.

"Mark?" Jinyoung asks.

"Yes. He wanted you to get some help so he could see you again. So look forward to that, kiddo." Dr. Kwon encourages Jinyoung with a friendly wink, and he feels himself get lighter. Maybe things really are starting to look up.

After his session, Jinyoung meets his mother outside. "Hey, you look better than you did walking out of your previous meetings. Something good happen?" His mother smiles as they get into the car.

"I talked about Mark. I don't know, it's like every time I talk about him I just feel better." Jinyoung shrugs, putting his seatbelt on. "I want to see him again."

"You will." His mother nods. She starts gripping her steering wheel nervously and glances over at her son. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" He questions, noticing how strange his mother is acting.

"It's about your father..." 

"What did he do now?" Jinyoung sighs.

"Your stepmother is trying to have him arrested for domestic abuse." 

Jinyoung chokes and turns to look at his mother with wide eyes. "W-what?" 

"You told me that when he beat you up, he hit her and even threatened to hit Yugyeom, so she recorded what he did to you I guess. She called me the other day and said she's been in the process of having him arrested."

"R-really?"

"She cares about you too, you know. She can't do much against your father and she's sorry she count stop him that day, but she wants him too it away for good. She sees how abusive he's gotten towards you. Even her too."

Jinyoung's eyes start to water as he turns towards the window. He has mixed feelings about this, but he mostly feels relieved. The biggest source of negativity in his life might be gone for a while. This thought alone makes Jinyoung relax a lot.

"You know, even though I had a really crappy father, I don't think I turned it too bad. I mean, I did take after him, hurting people, but at least I've tried to change and realized what I've done wrong. There's just no hope for him." Jinyoung sighs. He shrugs. "I'm glad I have such a great mom though."

"You take after me, not after your father. You're a kind, loving, sensitive person who only acted that way defensively." His mother argues.

"Whatever you say." Jinyoung laughs.

"Hey, wanna go get ice cream?" 

"Yeah, that sounds good." Jinyoung nods. "By the way, what'll happen to Yugyeom and his mom? She must be getting a divorce from dad now... does that mean he's not my brother anymore?"

"He'll always be your brother. I've been helping his mother look for apartments or houses for rent. There's one a street over that she likes and will be moving into soon. So get better, and make up with Gyeom. You'll be helping them move."

"Do you kind of I invite him to get ice cream with us?" Jinyoung asks. His mother smiles at her son.

"Invite him and I'll go to let you two talk. Call me when you're ready to be picked up, okay?"

"Alright."  
-

Yugyeom and Jinyoung sit across from each other in silence. It's not awkward, just slightly uncomfortable. They each have their own ice cream that they can't bring themselves to eat just yet.

"So.." they both say simultaneously.

"You first." Jinyoung insists. Yugyeom nods.

"I just want to apologize for ignoring you. I know that you've been having a hard time, so I shouldn't have been like that." Yugyeom says guiltily.

"No, I should be the one to apologize. Mark didn't deserve what I did to him. Hurting him hurt everyone around him too." Jinyoung says.

"At least you recognize that what you did was wrong and are trying to fix it. By the way, did you hear about your dad?"

"Yeah."

"How do you feel about it?" Yugyeom asks nervously.

"I think this is for the best. It's one thing for him to hurt me, but for him to hurt you and your mother is another. I'm glad you're getting out of there." Jinyoung smiles.

"Yeah, me too." Yugyeom grins as well. They both finally start eating their ice cream and talk for a few hours before Jinyoung's mother comes to pick them up and take them home.


	20. March 13, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes!

Mark is pretty much almost healed up by now. He still has to wear a boot, but that's better than the cast he had on before. He feels better, and really misses Jinyoung. He just hopes that Jinyoung has been thinking about him like he's been thinking about Jinyoung.

He's currently at home while his parents are out. After school, he came straight home. There's nothing to do nowadays. His friends always ask if he's okay and if he wants to hang out, but things aren't the same anymore. He always wants to be alone now.

Maybe it's because Jinyoung hasn't been to school in a while. Mark heard he's getting all of his work delivered home, and is doing alright. He also heard from his mother that he's been seeing someone, and that makes Mark happy.

As Mark is lounging on his bed, he hears the front door open slowly. That's strange to him because his parents should still be at work right now. He sits up and listens. He can hear footsteps coming up the stairs. He stares out his doorway, and once he sees who it is, he shoots up to a standing position.

Is he really seeing this or is he going crazy? Is Jinyoung really walking towards him?

"J-J..." mark can't say his name. 

Jinyoung walks into Mark's room before collapsing to his knees before Mark. He looks up at him and tears start falling from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Mark." Jinyoung sobs. Mark is frozen and isn't sure what to do. "You don't have to forgive me. Hit me. I deserve it. Do it. I won't hold it against you." Jinyoung sniffles while shutting his eyes right and waiting for impact.

But Mark gets down on his knees too and pulls Jinyoung forcefully into his chest. He wraps his arms around him and isn't planning on letting him go anytime soon.

"I'd never hurt you, Jinyoung. Never." Mark whispers, trying to hold back his own tears. Jinyoung holds onto Mark tightly as he sobs into his chest. He can't even say anything anymore, as he's crying too hard. Every emotion he's bottled up inside is now pouring out of him.

He feels so relieved and regretful and happy and sad. He's feeling everything all at once, and Mark is there to help him.

"You beat me to it. I was gonna come see you once I was fully healed so that you wouldn't feel bad." Mark holds Jinyoung's face to look into his eyes. He wipes the tears form his boyfriends cheeks and smiles.

"I don't deserve to feel happy or relieved that you're better. I don't deserve you." Jinyoung cries.

"Stop. Don't say that. It's not your fault." Mark kisses Jinyoung's cheek before pulling away to look at his boyfriend again. "I don't want you to look at me and remember what you did. That doesn't matter now because you're trying to change yourself. You're really trying."

"I want to change for you. For the better. For my mother. For Everyone. I don't want to be like my father anymore." Jinyoung wipes his eyes and sniffles a little. "I don't want to lose you."

"You'll never lose me, Jinyoungie. Never, okay? Come here." Mark gets up and pulls Jinyoung towards his bed where they lay down together. 

"Do you still love me?" Jinyoung asks, staring straight at Mark after they laid their heads on his pillows.

"Of course I do. Do you still love me?" Mark questions.

"Do you really have to ask?" Jinyoung gives a small smile. Mark leans in and presses a quick kiss to his boyfriends lips. It's a sensations he's really missed over the last month or so. He kisses him again and again, drinking in the warmth of Jinyoung's lips.

"So you've been seeing someone, right?" Mark whispers.

"Yeah. I heard you suggested it. Thank you." Jinyoung replies.

"I just want the best for you. How's it going?"

"It's good. The doctor is really nice. We've talked about a lot. I talked about my dad, coming out, and you. Especially you. You know the saying about not realizing how much you cared about someone until you lose them or whatever? That applies to you. After I lost you, I lost all of my happiness. I never really thought about just how much you meant to me, and how happy you really made me."

"Same for me. I was always happy when I was with you, even if we would fight or something. I just don't ever want to let you go again. That scared me, honestly. I thought I'd lose you for good." Mark admits.

"You know, after the incident at the bridge... I saw Minsoo. She told me what she did. She said she paid my 'friends' to spread the rumors and to suggest that you started them, and that she kissed you." Jinyoung looks up towards Mark's ceiling instead of right at him. "When I walked in and saw that... I didn't know what to think."

"Shes crazy." Mark sighs, stroking Jinyoung's hair. "If she was able to bribe those people like that, they weren't actually your friends."

"I know." Jinyoung sighs. "She said she showed them proof of our relationship. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone at school knows by now."

"They don't." Mark says. "I know that you don't want us to be public. People have asked but I avoid the question."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're just not ready yet. You're still learning to accept yourself." Mark says understandingly. They stare at each other in silence for a minute before Mark suddenly remembers something. "By the way, how did you get in here?"

"Oh, your parents gave me a key a while back, but I've never used it." Jinyoung says casually. 

"What? They gave you a key? When?"

"A while ago. When we went out to lunch." 

"You went out to lunch with my parents?" Mark asks.

"Yeah." Jinyoung responds, not offering any explanation at all.

"Okay, I'm just gonna accept it." Mark chuckles. Jinyoung smiles at that.

"I missed your laugh." He tells Mark. 

"I missed your smile." Mark responds. They share a kiss, which quickly turns into something deeper.

Their open-mouthed kisses are urgent an rushed as they pull at each other's clothes. Everything seems to be going pretty smoothly... until the reach Mark's boot.

Jinyoung is currently trying to pull his boyfriends pants off without having to take his boot off and put it back on again, but things aren't working out as planned.

"Just pull a little more." Mark says, holding his boot in place.

"Mark, your pants are extremely tight. I seriously doubt we'll be able to get them off like this." Jinyoung says exasperatedly.

"Then ignore them and come here." Mark pulls Jinyoung onto his lap and they continue to kiss as Mark pulls Jinyoung's shirt off. He runs his hands down his boyfriend body and Jinyoung shivers.

"This should've happened on Valentine's Day." Mark adds, kissing Jinyoung's neck.

Jinyoung tries to respond, but he can only moan. He tries not to feel embarrassed even though its six in the evening and he's on the verge of having sex with his boyfriend who he made up with like five minutes ago and whose parents could literally walk in at any moment.

Mark reaches down to unbutton Jinyoung's pants when they suddenly hear the front door open. They freeze in place and listen.

"Mark?" Mark's father calls out. 

Damn it.

Jinyoung has never stood up so fast in his life. He quickly pulls his shirt back on and grabs Mark's from the floor, thrusting it over his head. He tries to help Mark pull his pants up, but they tried so hard to pull them over his boot that they were stuck, so Mark just pulls his blanket over his legs.

"Mark, are you here? The front door was unlocked." Mark's parents come upstairs and they're surprised to see Mark laying down and Jinyoung sitting in a chair next to his bed.

"Oh, Jinyoung." Mark's mother says, surprised. "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Yeah, I've been having a few problems and needed some time to myself." Jinyoung says, trying to hide his neck with his hoodie without drawing attention to himself. He's not sure if he has a hickey, but it sure feels like he has one.

"We heard from Mark about what happened." Mark's father says. Jinyoung freezes and looks at his parents with wide eyes. "That your friends hurt Mark and you were having a really hard time, beating yourself up over it." 

Jinyoung feels a pang of guilt at that. "Oh, uh, yeah." Jinyoung looks down at his hands in his lap.

"We heard you've been seeing a psychiatrist too. How's that going, honey?"

"It's good. I've made a lot of progress in such a short time." Jinyoung tells them.

"That's good. Mark's been really lonely without you around." They smile. Jinyoung can't help but return it. "By the way, Mark. How's your leg?" Mark's mother tries to pull back his blanket, but Mark stops her.

"It's fine." He says fast. Jinyoung mentally curses his boyfriend.

"Why are you acting so strange?" His father questions.

"What? I'm not. I'm just cold. My leg feels fine. I haven't moved around much after coming home." Mark explains. His parents nod, believing his lie.

"Okay, try and move around a little, alright? Get some blood flow in your legs." His mother says. Mark nods and waits for them to leave. They do, and Mark jumps up.

"Help me!" He whispers to Jinyoung. They then spend ten minutes pulling at Mark's pants before finally getting them off to his boot.

"We're never doing that again." Jinyoung takes a breath.

"Yeah, next time I'll make sure my parents don't walk in on us." Mark smiles. Jinyoung rolls his eyes, but is secretly happy that him and Mark already seem like their relationship is back to normal. "Hey, wanna go on a walk?"

"Can you even walk?" Jinyoung questions as Mark takes off his boot to pull some new pants on.

"Yeah, probably. You might have to carry me if I get tired though." Mark shrugs, standing up.

"Okay, that's fine." Jinyoung nods. So they head out together.

It's starting to get dark as they begin to walk around, so they hold hands, not afraid someone might see them. They take back roads too, just in case. It's nice walking, just them two. They didn't even really do this before everything happened, so this is a nice change.

"How's your leg?" Jinyoung asks Mark for the twelfth time since they left the house.

"It's okay. I could use a piggyback ride though." Mark jokes. Jinyoung stops and gets down on one knee.

"Get on." He tells Mark.

"I was kidding." Mark tries to explain.

"Seriously get on." Jinyoung tells Mark. He reluctantly gets on his back, and Jinyoung stands with weak knees. He stumbles a little, but quickly regains his balance and walks along. Mark wraps his arms as tightly around Jinyoung as he can without choking him, and buries his face in his boyfriend's neck..

"I'm glad you came back to me Jinyoungie." Mark whispers, pressing a kiss to Jinyoung's ear.

"Me too. I'm glad you waited for me, even if I didn't deserve it."

"Let's not think about that now." Mark cuddles into Jinyoung further when Jinyoung's phone suddenly rings.

"Can you take this?" Jinyoung struggles to pull his phone from his pants pocket and hands it to Mark, who then answers it without looking to see who it was.

"Hello?" Mark answers.

"Mark?" It's Yugyeom. "Did I call you on accident?"

"No, this is Jinyoung's phone. He's a little busy right now and asked me to answer for him. What's up?"

"Oh, you guys made up?" There's a hopeful tone to Yugyeom's voice.

"Yeah, he came to me earlier today and... it'd be better to talk about it in person." Mark decides.

"Well, that's perfect. I was actually calling to ask Junior to come over to Jaebum's place. I've convinced everyone to give him another chance and they're willing to hear him out." Gyeom explains.

"Okay, we'll head over now. See you soon, and don't tell the guys we made up. I want them to see it for themselves." Mark says.

"Got it. See you soon." The line goes dead.

"Hey, let me down." Mark says. Jinyoung slowly crouches to let Mark stand. "Let's go to Jaebum's. That was Gyeom on the phone. He convinced everyone to give you a second chance. They're probably expecting an apology from you."

"Okay." Jinyoung nods.

"Okay?"

"Yeah. I need to do this for them and for myself. I need to explain some things to them. After all I've put them through they deserve that at least." Jinyoung explains. Mark smiles and wraps his arm around Jinyoung's waist.

"You've changed a lot, you know that? In a good way."

"Yeah, I can feel it. I think that I'm starting to like myself now."

"Good. You should, because you're amazing." Mark plants a kiss on his boyfriends lips and expects him to pull away since they're right on the street, but he doesn't. He kisses Mark back happily.

"Let's go." Jinyoung says, holding his hand out for Mark after he breaks their kiss. Mark nods again, and they walk off.


	21. March 13, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't edit. Sorry for any mistakes!

Yugyeom hears a knock at the door. He looks towards it before almost running to open it. There he sees Mark and Jinyoung, holding hands and looking happy. It's the first time in a couple weeks he's seen his brother, and he's gained weight. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. He had gotten so skinny and pale before, and now his cheeks seem fuller and tinted pink, although he's sure that the color is due to Mark and not his diet.

"Hi." Yugyeom says, letting them inside. "It's been a while, Junior."

Jinyoung looks at his little brother before stepping towards him and wrapping his arms around him. Of course both Yugyeom and Mark are shocked. Jinyoung isn't one to just hug people like this. He must really be feeling sorry. Yugyeom returns his hug and relaxes.

After a few seconds, Jinyoung silently lets go and smiles at his brother. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I've already forgiven you. You're my brother, you're important to me, and I'll always be here for you." Yugyeom says. Jinyoung's smile somehow becomes brighter. "The guys are all in there."

Yugyeom leads Jinyoung and Mark into the living room where Kunpimook, Jaebum, Jackson, and Youngjae sit.

When the three walk in, the other boys sit up. They're probably shocked to see Mark and Jinyoung back together, Jinyoung thinks. He bows to them and someone snickers. He looks up to see Kunpimook crossing his arms, looking annoyed.

"What? Say it." Mark says, thinking he's acting childish.

"I just don't understand how you can trust him after all of this." Kunpimook says without any hesitation.

"He apologized, he got help, he's changed. I don't know what part of that is so hard to understand." Mark was now starting to get annoyed. He knew he'd have a hard time from Jaebum, but had hoped Kunpimook would've calmed down by now.

"Well, unlike you, Mark, we're not blindly in love with a psychopath." Kunpimook rolls his eyes.

"Hey." Mark snaps.

"Come on, dude. That wasn't cool. He's right in front of you." Jackson tells Kunpimook, resting a hand on his shoulder, but Kunpimook brushes it off.

"I don't give a damn about his feelings. He never cared about mine, so why should I care about his?" Kunpimook raises his voice.

"You're right." Jinyoung suddenly adds. Everyone looks at him. "I never cared about how you felt, and I was wrong for that. I'm not here to ask you all for forgiveness. I'm here to apologize for everything I've ever done to you. I know that this most likely isn't enough to makeup for all of that, but I'm sincere this time." Jinyoung says.

"What a load of--"

"Can you just hear him out?" Mark cuts Kunpimook off. Kunpimook reluctantly closes his mouth, but not without rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. He leans back into the couch.

Jinyoung swallows hard before starting. "If I want you guys to understand me, I need to tell you about myself." Jinyoung starts. "I knew I was gay when I was fourteen. That's when I had my first kiss. It was from a boy named Minhyuk. I really, really liked him and he let me be myself. Then, everything started going downhill. My father found out and that's when the abuse started up. Nobody expect for Yugyeom really knows how bad it got."

"Yeah..." Yugyeom agrees quietly.

"I used to skip school a lot, right? Well, I wasn't skipping to skip. I was skipping because I was too injured to even walk. My father tried to beat me into being normal. He made me hate myself and who I was. I was in denial, and only hurt people because it made me feel more powerful. I was weak at home. I couldn't do anything against my father." Jinyoung explains. "I can't even begin to explain the hell I went through all this time."

"That doesn't justify hurting others, you know." Jaebum adds in.

"I know that. I'm just saying that I was projecting. I was taking my anger out on others because I couldn't take it out on who I wanted to."

"You know, I think Mark entered your life at the perfect time." Yugyeom suddenly says. "You met right around the time you got kicked out. I think that Mark plus living with your mother permanently really helped you change. It was obviously hard to stop your old ways though, since that's all you knew." 

"I agree with that." Mark nods. "Not to toot my own horn, but I think I helped you a lot." He puts his arm around his boyfriends shoulder.

"I think you helped me too. You all did, in a way. I know I was a major asshole, but I really considered you guys my friends." Jinyoung shrugs.

"You're making me feel really guilty." Jackson pipes up. Everyone looks at him. "I feel like this whole situation was somewhat my fault."

"What do you mean?" Jaebum questions his best friend.

"None of this would've happened if Minsoo weren't in the picture, right? Well... I kind of saw what was happening before anyone else did." Jackson shrugs, looking down at his own hands. "I knew she was trying to tear you two apart, but I didn't try to stop her."

"Why?" Mark asks. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little hurt.

"I was being selfish. I think it was obvious that I liked her. I wanted to keep her around me, even if she didn't feel the same way about me. Even if she was doing something horrible to my friends, I didn't care because I was able to see her."

"What is wrong with you? Seriously?" Kunpimook asks him. "Now I feel like an asshole for no reason. I'm still mad at him, but I feel kind of bad now that I know all of this could've been prevented."

"I know, I know." Jackson sighs.

"Don't think it's your fault. I know what it's like to have feelings for someone you can't have, believe me. That's how I felt when I was fourteen. I mean, yeah, you could've said something, but I'm at fault here. I didn't have to take things so far. I beat up my own boyfriend."

"Yeah, that's pretty messed up." Jackson nods in agreement.

"Not helping." Mark tells him.

"You know, Minsoo came to me that night. After the kiss. She was crying and I comforted her. I actually comforted her and said horrible things about you guys." Jackson runs his fingers through his hair. "I said that Mark didn't deserve her and that he was a horrible person for choosing someone like Junior over Minsoo. I actually said those things."

"Jackson..."

"No, Mark. Don't say anything. Junior shouldn't be the only one apologizing. I should apologize too. I've been letting the guilt eat away at me for a long time, and I just want it all to stop." Jackson gets up and stands next to Jinyoung. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. There's nothing really to forgive. It's all in the past." Jinyoung smiles. Jackson takes his hand firmly and looks at the rest of their friends sitting.

"God." Jaebum sighs, resting his head in his hands. "Now you're making me think about all of my past mistakes." He sighs. "I have something to confess too."

"You do?" Mark is in shock.

"Yes, I do." Jaebum sighs yet again. "I..." He bites on his lip nervously, not able to make eye contact with anyone. "I also spread a rumor. At the private school." 

"You what?" Youngjae asks, staring right at Jaebum. "That was you?"

"What was him? What did you say?" Mark asks.

"I... everyone knows about Junior in our area. So I kind of... let it slip that you were gay. After everything went down. I mean nobody believed me, but I said it."

"You really did that?" Jackson asks in shock. "I honestly didn't think you were the type to do something like that."

"Yeah and I didn't think you were the type to choose some girl over your friends." Jaebum snaps. He lets out a breath to calm himself down. "I know it was wrong. It's not my right to tell people about that. I'm sorry." He stands and gives a little bow to Jinyoung.

"It's fine. You said they didn't believe you anyway." Jinyoung shrugs. He honestly doesn't feel any hostility towards Jaebum for that. "To be honest, I'm slowly becoming comfortable with the idea of telling everyone, so who knows, I might just let it out anyway."

"Really?" Mark's eyes light up.

"Yeah." Jinyoung grins.

"Jaebum, come." Jackson smiles, gesturing for his best friend to come stand by his side. Jaebum does, reluctantly. Soon they're all staring at Kunpimook and Youngjae.

"Well, I don't have any hard feelings towards you. I just think this is between you and Mark. If he's fine with everything, so am I." Youngjae says, standing up and walking over to where Yugyeom stands behind everyone else.

Now it's just Kunpimook.

"What about you, huh?" Mark starts. "You were yelling at me in the car for defending him and were telling me he needed to be committed."

"Yeah, I did say that." Kunpimook nods. "I still think he's messed up in the head."

"Kunp--"

"But..." He cuts off Mark. "Unfortunately, he seems sincere. More sincere than I've ever seen him with us before. I really don't want to forgive you, and I don't think I'll be able to for a while. You had my trust after I gave you a chance, but you ruined it. Now you have to build it back up again."

"I know that. I'm willing to fix this. I really consider you a friend, Kunpimook." Jinyoung says. Kunpimook snickers but stands and approaches Jinyoung.

"If you really consider me a friend, let me call you Jinyoung." Kunpimook says boldly. He can practically feel the room grow tense.

"Sure." Jinyoung says without any hesitation. "Everyone should call me that."

"Seriously?" Mark looks at Jinyoung.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?" Jackson questions.

"Mhm. One hundred percent." Jinyoung nods.

Mark pours a little at that. "So that means I'm not special anymore." He frowns.

"He's literally opening up to us completely and you're pouring about not being the only one who gets to call him Jinyoung? You're too far gone." Jaebum says in disgust.

"Well, I think we knew Mark was too far gone. He's still dating this psychopath after all." Kunpimook says, only half serious. This makes Jinyoung smile.

"You're still special. It's not like I let just anyone call me _Jinyoungie_ like you do. That name is reserved for you and my mom." Jinyoung tells his boyfriend, grabbing his hand. Mark meets his eyes and smiles.

"You're right." He nods. "I might have to come up with a new nickname for you now, though."

"Like what?" Jinyoung asks.

"What about something that makes everyone around in uncomfortable? Like daddy?" Mark laughs.

"Why did you do that? Did you really have to say that?" Jaebum raises his voice at his childhood friend. "You're really disgusting. You don't see me making my girlfriend call me daddy."

"It's a joke. Chill." Mark is still trying o stop laughing at everyone's disgusted faces. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm the daddy in this relationship."

"Okay, I think it's time to go." Jinyoung says uncomfortably. "You're taking things too far."

"Yeah, even I agree with you... Jinyoung." Kunpimook hesitates to say his name now even though he didn't before.

"It'll take a while to get used to, right?"

"Yeah." Kunpimook nods.

"Wait, you have a girlfriend?" Jackson suddenly asks. He looks at Jaebum.

"It took you long enough to ask." He sighs. That was like a thirty second delay between me telling you guys and you actually noticing."

"So you have one then? Who would date you?" Youngjae asks. Jaebum glares at him. "I mean, I don't mean that in a bad way. You're just...."

"Opinionated, hot-headed, a jerk..." Yugyeom whispers, but everyone hears.

"Hey." Jaebum snaps. "I'm not like that when I'm with her."

"So you do have a girlfriend?" Jackson squeals excitedly. "Who is she? What does she look like? How did you meet?"

"Whoa, too many questions." Jaebum steps away from everyone.

"You have a girlfriend though?" Mark questions.

"No." Jaebum says.

"What the fuck? Then why did you want everyone to notice? If you don't have a girlfriend what's the point in mentioning one and saying you act differently around her?" Jackson pouts.

"I never said I had one." Jaebum shrugs.

"Fake. You're fake." Jackson tells him.

"How am I the fake one? You the one who--" He cuts himself off.

"Say it. I dare you." Jackson glares, knowing what's coming next.

"You're the one who tore apart their relationship by liking Minsoo." Jaebum says boldly.

"Well, for your information, they're back together again. I don't know if you noticed the hand holding and the fact they're calling each other daddy now."

"Gross, stop saying that word. They're not calling each other daddy." Jaebum puts his hands over his ears.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy!" Jackson yells to torment his best friend.

"Stop it!" 

"Wow, things got weird really fast." Mark says. Jinyoung nods in agreement, tearing his eyes away from Jackson and Jaebum to look into his boyfriend's eyes.

"Wanna go?"

"Yeah. We might as well before things get crazier." Mark sighs, looking at their friends. They say goodbye to the ones who aren't arguing about the name _daddy_ and head outside to walk back home.

"I'm gonna walk you all the way home and upstairs and put you in bed because I think you've been on your boot too long." Jinyoung looks down at Mark's leg.

"I'm fine." Mark waves it off.

"If it starts getting sore, tell me and I'll carry you. You're very light."

"Well, in that case..." Mark looks over shyly.

"Get on." Jinyoung crouches down again and Mark gets on his back. This time when Jinyoung stands, he doesn't stumble.

"Ooh, strong man." Mark chuckles.

"Well, you're not strong. You have noodle arms. Who else is gonna be the strong one in this relationship?" Jinyoung asks cockily. Mark laughs again.

"I do not have noodle arms. I'm strong too. Sometimes."

"Sometimes." Jinyoung laughs.

"I really did miss this. You being happy and laughing. Are you really happy though?" Mark asks.

"Yeah. I am. I'm happier now that I was even before."

"Good. I'm glad." 

It's silent for a minute, only the sound of cars and Jinyoung's heavy footsteps surround them.

"I love you, you know that?" Mark whispers.

"I love you too." Jinyoung doesn't hesitate to say the same to Mark.

"This is making me kind of sleepy..." Mark trails off. Jinyoung can feel his head resting in the crook of his neck. Mark snuggles into his boyfriend and before Jinyoung knows it, his breathing has evened out.

"Thank you for trusting me." Jinyoung whispers.

It doesn't take very long for him to reach Mark's house. He knocks on the door, thankful the lights are still on. Mark's parents let Jinyoung inside, and he goes to take Mark to his room.

He sits on the edge of Mark's bed, holding his arms tightly as he leans back to let him down onto his bed softly. He tries to sit up, but Mark wraps his arms tightly around his boyfriend.

"Don't go." Mark says in his sleep. Jinyoung looks back at his boyfriend before smiling.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He plants a sweet kiss on Mark's lips before getting up and leaving. He says goodbye to Mark's parents before making his way to his mother's house.

When he reaches his home, his mother is still awake. "How'd it go?" She asks her son, getting up to give him a hug.

"It went really well, actually. Mark forgave me, thought I still feel like I don't really deserve him. We even went over to Jaebum's and they're giving me another chance. Some of them forgive me, some of them don't. I didn't expect anyone to, to be honest, so I'm happy with what I got." Jinyoung explains.

"I'm glad. They seem like a good group. I think they're good for you." His mother kisses his forehead. "You look tired. You should go to bed."

"Okay, I will. Thanks mom."

"For what?"

"For always being there for me when nobody else was." He shrugs. "You've always been so nice to me and have given me so much love. If I didn't have you, I don't think I ever would've been able to change."

"Don't make me emotional." His mother sniffles with a smile. "You're perfect how you are, got it? Your father can't tell you any different."

"Speaking of him, what happened? Any updates?"

"The trial will start soon. It isn't looking very good for him. He could serve four years."

"Four years?" Jinyoung's eyes widen. "I don't want to feel bad an guilty, but for some reason I do." He sighs. "He still is my father after all. Maybe this will help him somehow."

"Honey, I think he's too far gone." His mother tells him honestly. She strokes his hair. "He's not the same man I married all those years ago, and he's definitely not the same man your stepmother married. I guess something about you made him crack."

"I guess it's better it was just me and not anyone else." Jinyoung nods. "This is for the best." He tells himself.

"It is. Don't worry about it though. Go upstairs, wash up, and go to bed thinking about Mark. Got it?"

"Got it." Jinyoung smiles. He starts up the stairs, smiling to himself. He's really glad that things are working out. His life is really starting to look up.


	22. May 1, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung is so over dramatic lol

Since the incident, pretty much everything has gone back to normal. The friend group is back together, stronger than ever, Mark and Jinyoung are back to their constant bickering, and their classmates seem to be more comfortable around Jinyoung now. It's really nice, and Jinyoung has never felt better. He feels like he has no cares in the world.

That was until one day at school.

It's Friday. Everyone's excited for the weekend, and are ready to rush out the doors into the nice spring weather. But of course, they still have to sit through the afternoon announcements.

"Remember seniors, graduation is on the 23rd of this month. Mark your calendars!" The principal says over the loudspeaker. Jinyoung stops packing up and looks up at the speaker.

Seniors? Graduation? Wait. Mark is a senior. That means he's graduating this year.

Jinyoung is freaking out. Mark is about to graduate. What will happen? Will they still be together? Jinyoung doesn't even know what college Mark is going to. What if he decided to go back to school in America after this? What if Jinyoung never sees Mark again?

"Hey, the bell rang." One of Jinyoung's classmates bumps his arm to get his attention. He blinks and turns to look at the girl.

"Oh, sorry." Jinyoung flashes her a smile before he shoves the rest of his books into his bag and exits the classroom to go towards where Mark's locker is.

Mark is more popular than he's ever been for some reason. Everyday when Jinyoung goes to see him at his locker, he's always surrounded by people wanting to talk to him. It's crazy that he never realized just how fantastic other people thought his boyfriend was.

Usually, he waits until the group is gone to talk to Mark, but today is definitely different. He needs to talk to Mark now.

"Mark." Jinyoung calls out. Mark looks past people to see Jinyoung, and a big smile spreads onto his face. Jinyoung pushes through the crowd and looks at Mark. "We need to talk."

"Oh, okay. Just let me--"

"No. Now." Jinyoung shuts his boyfriend's locker. "It's about graduation."

"What about it?"

"What do you mean what about it? What's gonna happen after you graduate?"

"What do you mean?" Mark questions.

"I mean what'll happen to us? Will you break up with me?" Jinyoung asks. Mark's eyes widen as he realizes what his boyfriend just said.

"W-what?"

"Will you break up with me? Will you move back to California?" Jinyoung bombards Mark with more questions.

"What? Are they dating?" Someone whispers.

"Were the rumors true?" Another person asks.

"Jinyoung, calm down." Mark puts his hands on Jinyoung's shoulders. "You do realize what you just said, right?" Mark whispers.

"Yes, and I don't care. I don't care if people know I'm gay and that you're my boyfriend. All I care about is what's gonna happen to us after you graduate. I still have another year." 

"Look, let's talk about this in a bit. Let me get my things and we can go get some ice cream or something, alright?" Mark says.

Jinyoung lets out a stressed sigh. "Fine. I'll wait outside for you." He leaves Mark. Mark lets out a sigh and runs his fingers through his hair. He definitely didn't want to tell people like this. 

"Are you gay, Mark?" People keep asking him. "Are you really dating Jinyoung?"

"Uh, yeah." Mark says with a nod. He supposes he might as well tell them straight up instead of letting weird rumors go around. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." Mark quickly picks up his bag and runs outside to meet Jinyoung. 

He approaches him, and sees Kunpimook is there as well. "I heard you told everyone." Kunpimook says after Mark reaches them.

"What? You already know that?" Mark is shocked.

"Word gets around really fast. Besides, people kind of suspected it anyway. You guys are always together and always giggling really weirdly together." Kunpimook chuckles.

"That's not the issue here." Jinyoung says, obviously stressed out.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Mark is going to graduate. That's what's wrong." Jinyoung sighs.

"Look, lets gather everyone up and get some ice cream, huh? Doesn't that sound like fun? It'll get your mind off of everything." Mark slings his arm around Jinyoung's shoulder and kisses his cheek, earning some reaction from the people around them.

"When will you answer my questions?" Jinyoung looks up at Mark.

"Just wait. Let's go." Mark grabs Jinyoung's hand and they all start walking towards the private school as usual. The school gets out an hour after the public school does so Mark, Jinyoung, and Kunpimook have time to walk there and wait for their friends.

They don't have to wait that long though, and soon students are pouring from the entrances of the school.

Yugyeom, Youngjae, Jackson, and Jaebum all walk out at the same time to see Mark and Jinyoung holding hands openly. They had heard a little while ago that they had come out to everyone, but didn't expect them to be so comfortable with being so close in public yet.

"So it's true, huh?" Youngjae asks, motioning towards the boys intertwined fingers.

"What, even you guys know?" Mark is baffled.

"News gets around fast. Especially since the people sharing it were girls who were very disappointed Mark turned out to be gay." Jackson adds.

"What about Jinyoung?" Mark looks at his boyfriend then back at Jackson, who only shrugs.

"He's not the ladies first choice after he terrorized their lives." He says honestly.

"Really?" Jinyoung asks. Jackson laughs.

"Why're you so moody?" Jaebum asks Jinyoung as they start walking.

"Mark won't answer my questions and it's giving me a bad feeling."

"Look, I'll answer your questions when we go get ice cream. It's better to just tell everyone instead of telling you and then repeating it a million times, am I right?" Mark explains.

Jinyoung sighs because he knows Mark's right. He doesn't respond, but Mark knows he's given up.

It doesn't take long for the seven to walk to their favorite ice cream place. They quickly get the usual and sit down, pulling two or three tables together to sit comfortably around one another.

"So what's this about?" Yugyeom asks, happily licking his ice cream.

"Jinyoung was asking--"

"Mark's about to graduate. I don't know what'll happen to us, and I don't even know where he's going to college or anything." Jinyoung blurts, cutting Mark off.

"Okay, well, nothing will happen to us after graduation. Everything will be fine."

"How do you know that? How far are you going for college? Are you gonna go back to America?" Jinyoung bombards his boyfriend with questions.

"I'm not going to college." Mark says simply.

"What?" Everyone, not just Jinyoung, ask him.

"What? I said I'm not going to college." He shrugs.

"What do you mean you're not going to college?" Jinyoung asks.

"I mean what I said. I don't want to go, so I won't. Koreans always think they need to go to college."

"You do need to go to college. You can get a good job otherwise." Kunpimook says. "But I'm not Korean."

"I know that." Mark rolls his eyes. "And no you don't need to go to college to get a good job. There are plenty of good jobs that don't require a college education."

"Are you really gonna do this to me? Do you expect me to support this family on my own?" Jinyoung questions his boyfriend. Mark laughs, choking a little on his ice cream.

"What family, Jinyoung? You're only about to be a senior in high school, and you still live with your parents. It's not like we live together and have children."

"I'm talking about the future." Jinyoung sighs frustratedly. "You're not allowed to become a househusband. How do you expect us to raise two children if we're poor?" Jinyoung raises his voice.

"Why are you getting so deep about this? Graduation is still like twenty days away, and you still have a year to go. You're really freaking me out." Jaebum says.

"It's nice that you're looking to our future, but it'll be okay. Don't worry about it, alright?" Mark adds.

"Not everyone can be as relaxed as you." Jinyoung tensely sits back in his seat.

"Why don't you stay over this weekend and we can figure everything out?" Mark suggests.

"Every time you say that, nothing ever gets solved. We never do anything." Jinyoung sighs again.

"I mean, we do _something_ , but I guess I see your point." Mark smirks.

"Gross." Jaebum makes a face at that.

"Are you sure we should all be here for this? I feel like there's a lot of tension between you two right now and I'm not prepared for what might happen next. I've seen the movies, and right about now is when you start furiously making out in front of the whole store." Jackson watches the couple intensely.

"I think you need a girlfriend." Youngjae tells his older friend. "This obsession with romantic movies has gotten out of hand recently. I'm worried."

Jackson frowns in defeat, knowing Youngjae is right.

Jinyoung stares at Mark's profile as he watches the exchange between two of their friends. He's honestly wondering if Mark can see their future together.

"If you don't want to go to college, does that mean you never want to get married either?" Jinyoung questions.

"I never said that." Mark turns.

"But you never said otherwise. And you shut down my family idea."

"I didn't _shut it down_. It just isn't relevant to our current situation. We're not married and we don't have children, and we aren't living together."

"So basically you never want to marry me and you don't want to have children? And you don't want to live together?"

"That's literally not at all what I just said." Mark runs his fingers though his hair.

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"Why are you being like this? Why are you being like this since I said I didn't want to go to college? First you were freaking out because you thought I _was_ going. You can't be upset about both sides like that. Either you want me to go to college and leave you or you want me to get a job and stay here with you. I've already made my decision. You're more important to me than anything else, so why would I go to college a million miles away from you to get a degree in something I don't like just to make a bunch of money that I don't need?" Mark takes a deep breath. Wow. He really laid it on Jinyoung, didn't he? "Sorry for raising my voice like that, but you have to realize how sensitive you're being about this."

"I'm just worried." Jinyoung admits.

"About what?" Mark chuckles a little, patting his boyfriend's head gently.

"About what's to come? I don't know. I'm just... anxious." Jinyoung hands his head.

"Hey." Mark gets close and whispers into Jinyoung's ear. "Give me a kiss."

"What?" Jinyoung turns, thinking Mark would back up a little. He doesn't though. Of course he doesn't. He's Mark Tuan.

"Come on." Mark grins.

"Why?" Jinyoung blushes.

"Oh, come on. Why are you blushing? A kiss is probably the most innocent thing you could do to me, considering you've done way worse things."

"Stop." Jinyoung closes his eyes in embarrassment, only to get a kiss right on his lips. Then another. And another.

"Stay over this weekend." Mark nuzzles Jinyoung's cheek.

"Okay." Jinyoung replies without hesitation. In the end, he really can't resist Mark. Not that he wants to.

"We're out." Mark stands up and looks at his friends. "Jinyoung and I are leaving. See you guys tomorrow, probably." Mark says. Jinyoung stands, waving to his friends.

"Bye guys." He says.

"Bye. See you later." They all wave their friends off and then go back to talking amongst themselves.  
-

Mark and Jinyoung should really do things differently. This happens almost every time Jinyoung stays over. Mark doesn't tell his parents, they come to wake Mark up, and Jinyoung is laying with him. Naked. Of course he's covered (mostly), but still.

It always starts with a soft knock, loud enough for Jinyoung to start to wake up. The realization always hits him right when the door opens. His head snaps towards the door and he sees his boyfriend's parents with smiles that slowly turn into shock.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." One of them always apologizes before closing the door. Jinyoung always lays there in embarrassment at the fact that Mark's parents saw him laying next to their son, half naked, clothes piled up on the floor next to the bed. It's really humiliating. He's surprised they've been able to talk to him normally after all of the previous incidents.

"Can't you warn them or something?" Jinyoung groans as he pulls his pants on slowly. He still hasn't adjusted to being awake and desperately needs to stretch his back.

"I could, but that ruins the surprise." Mark jokes.

"This isn't funny." 

"Yes it is."

"No it's not. They totally saw the hickies on my neck. Do you know how embarrassing that is? I've been so good about hiding them."

"What's so bad about letting people see those?" Mark runs his fingertips over his boyfriend's neck.

"Ah, stop." Jinyoung shivers at his touch. "You really don't make things easy for me."

"What fun would it be if I made things easy. I like to make things hard and--"

"It's way too early for this." Jinyoung cuts off Mark. He stands and pulls his shirt on over his head, feeling Mark pull it down for him in the back.

"Get dressed. I need to go apologize to your parents for the millionth time." Jinyoung sighs.

"This is only the fourth time. They should be used to it by now." Mark shrugs, standing up. Mark doesn't care that he's completely naked, casually walking around his room. He's Mark Tuan. He doesn't care about stuff like that.

"Please get dressed." Jinyoung covers his eyes.

"You're acting like this is the first time you've seen me naked." Mark laughs.

"I'll be back when you're fully clothed." Jinyoung sighs and exits Mark's bedroom, making his way down to see his parents.

"Hello." Jinyoung bows to them once he finds them. They smile at him. "I'm so sorry about that. I wish Mark would tell you when I stay over." Jinyoung blushed awkwardly.

"Oh, it's fine, honey." Mark's mother walks towards Jinyoung and pats his cheeks affectionately. "We don't care about that kind of thing. It's natural in a relationship, so we mind our own business when it comes to you two."

"A-are you sure?" Jinyoung stutters.

"Of course." Mark's father waves the issue away as he walks past Jinyoung to go into the kitchen.

"Now I realize why Mark is so relaxed and laid back all the time." Jinyoung mutters to himself, holding his head.

"Mark, come on. Breakfast is ready." Mark's mother calls to her son. Mark quickly finds his way to the kitchen. Thankfully, he's fully clothed now. All four of them sit down happily and eat breakfast together. Afterwards, Jinyoung goes home.

As he's walking along, he sees someone he hasn't seen in a long time. Chris. It was just him by himself. His friends weren't with him. He was just walking alone on the other side of the street.

Jinyoung pauses where he is and thinks to himself for a moment. Chris is the one person he hasn't apologized to yet. That needs to change.

Jinyoung doesn't hesitate to cross the street. "Chris!" He calls out to the boy a few meters in front of him. Chris stops in his tracks and turns around. When he sees Jinyoung, he grimaces. "Chris." Jinyoung approaches him quickly and stops in front of him.

"What do you want?" Chris asks, an annoyed expression on his face.

"I haven't seen you in a long time. I haven't seen you at all since I've been back to school actually."

"And?"

"And you were the only one who I didn't get to apologize to. I know I hurt you a lot in the past and I'm sincerely and genuinely sorry for that." Jinyoung starts.

"If you expect me to forgive you, you're--"

"That's not at all what I'm expecting." Chris stares at Jinyoung before snickering. Jinyoung speaks up again. "I just want to apologize. I'm not expecting anything in return. If you don't want to forgive me or have anything to do with me, that's fine. It's your life and I respect your decisions."

Chris still stares at Jinyoung before shaking his head with a bitter smile on his face. "So it's true then. You really have changed. Here I am still holding grudges about things that happened when we were freshmen." Chris sighs and kicks the pavement.

"You were one of the worst ones. I hurt you pretty bad, and to be honest, it's always haunted me. I still can't believe I did those things to you." Jinyoung looks down at his feet.

"Yeah, well... it made me stronger." Chris looks in another direction. "In a way, I feel like I should thank you for all of that. Even though it was messed up, you helped me become stronger."

"I really don't think I should be thanked for that..." Jinyoung shakes his head.

"Eh, it's time to let go of my grudges. It's tiring hating you so much. Besides, I'm moving this summer so I might as well make amends now." Chris shrugs. "Can I ask you something though?"

"Sure."

"Why foreigners? It seemed like you always picked on us the most."

"Honestly?" Jinyoung gives a bitter smile. "It's because you guys are from other countries where being gay is more accepted than it is here. I was jealous and angry. You could choose to be that way and people wouldn't think anything of it." 

"So that's why..." Chris frowns. "You know, it's not always like that. You have to have good, accepting people around you. Luckily for you, you found those people."

"Yeah. I am pretty lucky." Jinyoung nods.

"I remember telling Mark to stay away from you. He wouldn't have it." Chris chuckles a little. "I guess it's a good thing he stayed. He's changed you for the better."

"I agree." Jinyoung smiles. There's a comfortable silence between the two for a moment.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then, Jinyoung. I can call you that now, right?" Chris questions. Jinyoung nods. "Good. Maybe we can have another civil conversation before I leave."

"I'd like that. Thanks, Chris. I wish we could've been friends. You seem like a great person."

"Thanks." Chris flashes a genuine smile at Jinyoung. "Well, I'll be going now."

"Okay. I'll see you around."

"See you."

Jinyoung watches as Chris gives a little wave before turning on his heel and walking off. Jinyoung isn't sure how long he stands there, watching Chris, but he feels better after he disappears into the distance. He finally, fully feels at peace with himself.


	23. May 23, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER IS A MESS. Just warning you. I did not have any clue how to write this. I just needed it to foreshadow stuff in the future. And set up some stuff ha ha. I'll post another chapter later today.

After Mark's boring graduation ended, him and all his friends decided to go wander around near the school. His parents had told him to make sure he was home tonight unless he was staying at Jinyoung's. He already told them he probably wouldn't be there tonight and that he'll see them tomorrow.

All seven of the rambunctious guys walk until they find themselves at the bridge. Without fear, they walk under it and hang out there.

"It's kind of scary here when it's dark." Youngjae shivers, scooting closer to Yugyeom.

"You're right. Hold me." Jackson latches onto Jaebum.

"Get off of me." Jaebum pushes his best friend away.

"Come on, love me." Jackson whines playfully.

"I wish I had graduated too so I can get away from you." Jaebum gently punches Jackson's arm.

"You'll never get away from any of us for the rest of your life." Youngjae laughs.

"That's not a bad thing though." Yugyeom chimes in. "We're all pretty awesome."

"You know, that applies to you too, Mark." Jinyoung says suddenly, looking at his boyfriend. "You're never getting away from me or anyone else, so I hope you know what you got yourself into."

"Oh, stop. I already said I wasn't going anywhere. I've literally been through hell and back with you. If I didn't want to be with you, I would've left by now."

"Yeah..." Jinyoung nods.

"I never really thought about it before, but are you guys gonna be together for like the rest of your lives?" Kunpimook questions. "I don't know. That thought is kind of weird and I'm really curious."

"I mean, I guess so. I can't really see myself with anyone else." Mark shrugs. "What about you?" He glances over at Jinyoung.

"I've already planned out our future together." Jinyoung informs everyone.

"I should've expected as much." Mark laughs. "So tell us about this future."

"No, it's embarrassing to say it in front of everyone." Jinyoung shakes his head profusely.

"Well if we plan to do all of that they'll see it happen anyway." Mark points out. Jinyoung shrugs. "I think it's something like in the next few years we'll get married. Mm, maybe a few years after that we'll adopt like two kids. Something like that? Right?" 

"How did you know?" Jinyoung asks.

"Because I want the same thing."

"Oh no, this is getting too mushy for me. Maybe we should leave you two alone." Jaebum starts.

"No, come on." Mark pushes him playfully. "Maybe if you get into a relationship you'll know what it's like."

"Yeah, Jaebum. Maybe if you actually get into a relationship and don't lie about one--" Jackson's cut off by Jaebum pushing him away.

"I didn't lie! I never said I was dating anyone!"

"Sure you didn't." Jackson laughs at his best friend's expense.

"How do you know I'm mot talking to someone right now?" Jaebum questions.

"Because you're not. Now stop lying." Kunpimook says. Everyone besides Jaebum laughs. Mark and Jinyoung smile and meet each other's eyes. This really feels nice, being able to spend time with their friends like this and everything being good between everyone. This is exactly what they both wanted.

"Hey let's all go to Yugyeom's place." Youngjae suggests.

"No way. My apartment is way too small for everyone to fit into." He says.

"It's not even small. Besides, we're actually able to come over now without your dad being an asshole about it." Youngjae sighs. 

"Hey, stop. We don't know if this is still a sensitive topic." Jaebum whispers to Youngjae.

"Why would it be? I know that both of them are happy he's gone. What's there to be sensitive about?" Youngjae points out.

"Youngjae's right. This is a good thing." Jinyoung smiles. "Especially for Yugyeom since he had to live with him before. Now that him and his mom are out of there, things are better."

"See?" Youngjae says.

"Anyway, my place is too small. Let's go to Jinyoung's place." Yugyeom suggests.

Jinyoung shrugs. "Sure. My room is a mess, but sure." All of them make it to Jinyoung's house quickly and his mother is already back from the graduation along with Mark's parents.

"I had a feeling you'd all come here, that's why we came back here instead of to the Tuan's house." Jinyoung's mother says as the boys walk in.

"It's like you're psychic or something. You always do this and to be honest it freaks me out." Mark admits. Jinyoung's mother only laughs.

"We'll all be upstairs." Jinyoung says as everyone follows him up the stairs. They enter his room and scatter around it.

"Since when did your room become your and _Marks_ room?" Kunpimook asks, recognizing some of Mark's things scattered around the place.

"Since I started dating him." Jinyoung lays back on his bed. Jackson lays down too.

"Must be nice." He mumbles.

"What? Still sad over Minsoo?" Mark asks him.

"What? No." Jackson pouts.

"Yeah you are. You're upset that you're attracted to psychopaths." 

"Look, my taste in women has nothing to do with you."

"Anyway." Jinyoung starts loudly, interrupting Mark and Jackson's petty argument. Everyone looks at him. "I have a graduation present for you." He turns to Mark, who is now lounging on Jinyoung's chest. He slides a box out from under his bed and hands it to Mark.

"Ooh, what is it?" Mark grins, grabbing the large box. It's pretty weighty, to his surprise. He figured it would just be a sweater or something, but it's definitely too heavy for that.

"Open it and find out." Jinyoung smiles.

"Is it a box filled with a million mixtapes?" Mark asks hopefully. To be honest, Jinyoung's Christmas mixtape is the only thing he listens to anymore. Especially since his boyfriend is too embarrassed to sing in front of him.

"You wish." Jinyoung rolls his eyes. He watched as Mark slowly rips off the shiny red wrapping paper that Jinyoung has left over from Christmas. When the box under the paper becomes visible, Mark stops.

"What the hell?" Mark asks, now sitting up straight as he stares as the MacBook box. "Why did you get me this? How did you get me this? You don't have a job."

"I've just been saving up everything for a long time and finally had something to spend my savings on." Jinyoung shrugs.

"Why though? You could've bought yourself something." Mark is honestly touched right now and doesn't know what to think.

"You'd be able to use it more than me. I don't really go online that much. Besides, if you're getting a job right away, you might need it for that. I don't know. I just thought you'd like it." 

"I wish I had someone to buy me expensive gifts with money they don't have." Jackson sighs.

"Me too. Must be nice." Kunpimook chimes in.

"Jinyoungie... you really didn't have to get me something so expensive." Mark is still speechless.

"Just be thankful before he takes it back." Yugyeom says.

"I won't take it back. I just think you deserve something nice." Jinyoung sits up next to Mark, and Mark doesn't hesitate to pull his boyfriend into a tight hug, squishing their cheeks together.

"I'll use it well!" Mark says happily. He almost immediately lets go to take it his new MacBook and set it up to his liking.

He taps away at his keyboard after it starts up and after a few minutes, turns his computer so everyone can see his background.

"Oh my god." Jinyoung yells.

"Why?" Youngjae asks.

"Please change that. It really makes me uncomfortable." Jaebum frowns and tries to shield his eyes.

"What?" Mark smiles.

"When did you take that picture of me?" Jinyoung blushes furiously. He tries to shut the computer but Mark forces it open so everyone can see a picture of sleeping Jinyoung in nothing but his underwear.

"When you were sleeping. Isn't it cute?" Mark giggles and Jinyoung has never wanted to fight his more than he does at this very moment.

"It's actually really disgusting." Jaebum says.

"Hey!" Jinyoung snaps at him.

"I'm being honest with you."

"I can't wait to show everyone I know. Let's go show our parents!" Mark gets up to go downstairs and show everyone, but Jinyoung immediately stops him.

"I don't want my mother to know you've seen me in my underwear, thank you very much. I'd like to still be innocent in her eyes." Jinyoung explains.

"This conversation is taking a really weird turn and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with it." Kunpimook frowns.

"I second that." Youngjae shouts out.

"Okay, okay. What about this one?" Mark asks, but it's a few seconds before he turns his computer around for everyone to see again. 

It's a picture him and Jinyoung had taken when they were on a date at the park. They both were smiling brightly and looked truly happy.

"Actually, that's nice. You both look really happy." Yugyeom smiles as he looks at the picture.

"I like that too." Jinyoung smiles too.

"Hey should we all stay over here tonight?" Jackson asks.

"No." Jinyoung says.

"Yes! We can all sleep in the living room. It'll be fun." Mark jumps off he bed with his MacBook under his arm. "Come on."

"Mark!" Jinyoung whines as his boyfriend runs down the stairs. Everyone follows after him. Soon they're all spreading or blankets in the middle of the living room and stealing food from Jinyoung's fridge.

"This is what I get for having six idiots for friends." Jinyoung sighs to himself.

"You'll never escape us." Someone whispers in Jinyoung's ear, making him practically jump out of his skin. He turns to see Youngjae giving him a creepy smile.

"Come on Jinyoungie. Stop being a party pooper and let's watch a movie." Mark calls to his boyfriend. Jinyoung sighs but goes to sit down with everyone. He figures that if he can't beat them, he might as well join them.


	24. May 26, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha bet u thought everything was going great. Nope. U know me, gotta throw in more plot twists.

Mark is disappointed. He was really counting on Jinyoung being so distressed without Mark there at school that he'd call and text him any chance he gets. But that's not exactly how things are playing out. Yesterday after Jinyoung came home, he informed Mark that he had already made other friends.

"Who would want to be his friend?" Mark grumbles to himself jealously. He refuses to text Jinyoung first today. He will not... will he?

Mark stares at his phone, trying to send a psychic message to Jinyoung to sent him a text. When he receives a message, he's understandably shocked.

He opens it up and is happy to see it's from Jinyoung.

_Hey you don't have to come pick me up after school. I'll walk home with my friends._

When Mark reads that, his expression only darkens. He'll just pretend he didn't read that and go to pick up Jinyoung anyway to see who these _friends_ of his are.

Before Mark can tell himself it's stupid being so jealous over Jinyoung's other friends, he finds himself in front of the school as students pour out. Many people say hi to Mark and ask him why he's there. Of course he tells them it's to pick up his lovely boyfriend Jinyoung, and they smile and say, "Well it was nice seeing you again." Mark always just nods them away, trying to search the large crowd for his boyfriend and who he's now spending his time with instead of Mark.

That's when he spots them. Jinyoung looks happy. Too happy. Mark does not like this. He watches from where he is at first, figuring this guy is just a friend and not someone who might have a crush on Jinyoung. That wouldn't happen, right?

Just as Mark thinks that, that boy tries to grab Jinyoung's hand. No, he doesn't try, he _does_ grab Jinyoung's hand. And Jinyoung lets him!

As they get closer, Mark can hear bits of their conversation. "You should come over and we can catch up." Mark hears the other guy say.

"I'd love to." Jinyoung grins brightly. Oh hell no. Mark has to intervene.

"Jinyoungie!" He calls out loudly, causing everyone in the vicinity to look over at him. "Jinyoungie!"

Mark rushes towards his boyfriend. Jinyoung looks up to see Mark coming towards him. His heart swells with love, like it always does when he sees Mark, but he'd never tell him that in front of other people.

"Mark. I thought I said you didn't have to pick me up today." Jinyoung says.

"Did you? I don't think I got your text." Mark shrugs.

"You read it. I saw." Jinyoung argues.

Mark didn't think that far.

"Oh, well, maybe I opened it on accident and didn't actually see it." Mark rushes his explanation. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Mark. Remember when I told you about... that incident from a long time ago. When I was fourteen?" Jinyoung asks, suddenly becoming a little nervous.

"Fourteen? Incident? Wait is this...." Mark looks at the boy in front of him and frowns, but quickly tries to hide it.

"It's Minhyuk. The kid I told you about. His family moved back here and he's going to school here now. Isn't that awesome?" Jinyoung smiles at his boyfriend.

Mark forces a smile. Anyone might think it's a normal, friendly smile, but Jinyoung can see through it. Something's off.

"Oh, hi. Minhyuk." Mark shakes the other boys hand as he examines him. He's tall and handsome. Great. Because there needs to be another tall, handsome guy around here to get Jinyoung's attention.

"What's your name?" Minhyuk asks cheerfully.

"This is--"

"I'm Mark." Mark cuts off his boyfriend. "Jinyoung's boyfriend." At that, Minhyuk's face contorts a little. Is it confusion? Jealously?

"Boyfriend? You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend?" He smiles at Jinyoung. Mark thinks it's fake, but that could just be his jealousy clouding his vision.

"Oh, yeah. I still feel a little weird about telling people like this." Jinyoung blushes, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Oh, you just started dating?" Minhyuk asks.

"No. We've been together for six months and eleven days." Mark smiles.

"Wow, six months. That's a while. When'd you come out as gay to everyone?" Minhyuk turns to Jinyoung.

"Six months ago." Jinyoung blushes. "Mark doesn't beat around the bush."

"I guess not." Minhyuk chuckles. "Hey, if you two want to spend some time together, I won't interfere."

"No, I want to talk to you mo--"

"Thanks. That's so nice of you. Well, Jinyoung will see you tomorrow at school." Mark says quickly. He pulls Jinyoung by his wrist off of school grounds and down the street.

"Mark, stop!" Jinyoung shouts. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"Why didn't you tell me, huh?" Mark lets go of Jinyoung.

"Tell you what?"

"That _Minhyuk_ was back. It took me actually coming here in person to figure it out?"

"Come on. It's been a day since I've reconnected with him. It's not like I was never gonna tell you. Besides, why are you getting so worked up over nothing?"

"Nothing? This isn't nothing, Jinyoung. He was your first love." Mark points out. Jinyoung pauses. Oh. _Oh_. 

"Mark... are you jealous?" Jinyoung questions.

"I..." mark looks into his boyfriends eyes. "Why wouldn't I be jealous?"

"Mark." Jinyoung suddenly wraps his arms around his boyfriend with a big grin on his face. "You're jealous? That's so cute!"

"Come on, Jinyoung. Don't take things so lightly. I saw him holding your hand." Mark, although protesting the hug from Jinyoung, wraps his arms around his boyfriend in return.

"It was harmless. Believe me."

"I don't want you to talk to him." Mark voices his opinion.

"You can't tell me to do that." Jinyoung pulls away to look up at Mark, hands still on his waist. "He was my best friend. I haven't seen him in so long."

"So you can tell me not to hang out with Minsoo but I can't tell you not to hang out with Minhyuk?" Mark asks.

"You know damn well this isn't the same situation." Jinyoung pulls completely away from Mark now.

"Isn't it though? You told me not to hang out with Minsoo and I didn't listen. Look what happened. I'm not even straight and something happened between me and her. What about you and Minhyuk, huh? He was your first kiss. Obviously he's not straight. What if he still has feelings for you?"

"It's not the same. Minhyuk wouldn't do anything to go against me like that." Jinyoung shakes his head.

"How do you know? Like you said, it's been years."

"I just know, okay? God, if you're gonna be like this, you can go home without me." Jinyoung starts to walk off in the opposite direction.

"Jinyoungie, wait." Mark grabs his wrist.

"No, Mark. I don't want to talk to you right now. Stop comparing Minhyuk to Minsoo. He's not a horrible person like she is. I can't believe you'd say something like that."

"You know that's not what I mea--"

"Minhyuk!" Jinyoung calls out. His friend is still standing there talking to some other people. Minhyuk looks up and looks in Jinyoung's direction, smiling. Mark watches as Jinyoung walks towards him. They talk for a few seconds before Minhyuk says goodbye to everyone and they head on their way. What really bothers Mark though, is that they're not going on the direction of Jinyoung's house.

"What's wrong? You have really angry energy coming off of you." Mark hears Kunpimook's familiar voice from behind him. He turns to look at his younger friend.

"I'm upset."

"I can see that. Why?" Kunpimook starts walking beside Mark as they go towards home.

"Jinyoung is hanging out with a friend today."

"Okay, and? Who is it? Yugyeom?" Kunpimook questions.

"It's Minhyuk." Mark says.

"Wait, who's Minhyuk? Isn't that his first kiss or whatever?" Kunpimook's eyes widen.

"Yep."

"Oh my god, really? He's seriously gonna hang out with that guy right in front of your face?"

"Yep."

"Wow... that's pretty low, even for Jinyoung."

"Hey." Mark snaps. "Don't talk about him like that."

"Sorry, sorry." Kunpimook puts his hands up in defense. "Just saying, if I saw my ex out somewhere when I was with my current girlfriend, I wouldn't go hang out with my ex so easily like that." He shrugs. "Do you think he still has feelings for him?"

Mark sighs and grabs at his hair. "Ugh, I don't know, Kunpimook. You're really not helping my situation. Actually, you're making things worse."

"Sorry. Should we go see that the guys have to say?"

"I guess so. I need some advice. You all suck at giving it, but it's better than nothing."

-

It's a few hours after Mark got there and they've literally gotten nowhere. They all just keep talking about how they'll fight Jinyoung if he tries to break up with Mark.

"Stop saying he might break up with me. You're not helping. You're making my anxiety worse." Mark whines.

"Sorry, just saying." Jaebum shrugs. Suddenly, his phone dings and he looks at it. Then he looks back up at Mark. "Did you get a text?" He asks. Mark pulls his phone from his pocket.

"No, why?" Mark questions, but Jaebum doesn't answer him. He just types on his phone and then soon gets another message. "Who are you texting?"

"Jinyoung." Jaebum says. "He asked if you were here and when I said yes, he said that he was bringing Minhyuk over and to make sure and calm you down."

"He's bringing that kid over here?" Mark jumps from his seat.

"Calm down." Youngjae pushes Mark down back into his seat. "Let us scope out the competition."

"This isn't a competition. I'm _dating_ Jinyoung. Nobody's taking him away from me." Mark pouts.

Just as Youngjae's about to respond, the six boys can hear the front door opening. They wait in anticipation as Jinyoung and Minhyuk make their way into Jaebum's living room.

"Hey guys." Jinyoung says. "This is my friend Minhyuk. Be nice to him."

"Hi, it's really nice to meet you guys. I've heard a lot about you." Minhyuk smiles. Mark can literally see him melting everyone's hearts, and that makes him furious.

"Nice to meet you, Minhyuk." Jackson's the first one to say hello. After that, everyone lined up to shake his hand. Unfortunately, they all seem to like Minhyuk a lot already.

"Are you calmed down now?" Jinyoung asks Mark, annoyed. Mark nods, lying. "Good."

"I'm sorry." Mark says, standing up. He tries to go in for a kiss, but Jinyoung clears his throats and turns away. Mark's kiss lands on Jinyoung's cheek and he literally can feel his heart breaking. "Why'd you do that?"

"We shouldn't kiss in front of our friends. They don't like it." Jinyoung says. He grabs Minhyuk's arm and takes him to sit down.

Mark tries to look at his friends, but nobody makes eye contact with him. He knows what that means. "Gyeom, come here for a minute." Mark says, grabbing Yugyeom's hand. He drags him away from everyone. "Please keep and eye on him and keep me updated. I can't bare to be here in person." Mark whispers dejectedly.

"Mark..."

"Just... text me if anything happens, okay?"

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Yugyeom questions. Mark just nods before patting Gyeom on the back.

"I'm out, guys." Mark calls to his friends.

"Already?" Jackson asks, frowning.

"Yeah. I'm not feeling that well, and I didn't tell my parents I would be out. I'm just gonna head home." Mark explains.

"Alright. Text me later, alright?" Jaebum shoots Mark a concerned look.

"Alright. I will." Mark smiles and leaves, walking home slowly.

When he finally starts paying attention to where he's going, he finds himself going towards Jinyoung's place. Shaking his head, he turns himself around and heads to his own house.

Mark hates this feeling. This must be how Jinyoung felt back then. This jealous is really enough to change a person. Mark doesn't want to change though. He wants to accept that Jinyoung can have other friends besides their mutual ones, and that he can bring those said friends around everyone. It'll all be okay? Right? Nothing will happen. Probably.

Mark sighs as he walks inside. He expected to be alone and he was right. The house is empty. So he sulks up in his room under the covers, trying as hard as he can not to think of every single thing that could go wrong in this situation. He even tries to think about the things that could go right, but his brain won't let him. He can't stop thinking about Jinyoung breaking up with him. He realizes he's probably being over dramatic and everything, but he can't help it. He's never been the jealous one. People have never really been that interested in Jinyoung, only Mark.

Mark is always all over Jinyoung in friend of other people and hangs out with him any chance he can get, so it's not like Jinyoung really had anything to be jealous about after everything blew over. But now Jinyoung is the one getting attention and it's like he's trying to make Mark jealous. He even denied Mark a kiss earlier. Mark is sure that if Minhyuk weren't there, he would've gotten a kiss.

"Agh, stop." Mark tells himself. He closes his eyes. "Go to sleep, Mark." He whispers. Luckily, Mark can fall asleep pretty much anywhere no matter what's on his mind. Soon, he's drifting out of consciousness.


	25. Bonus: May 29, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of uphill before it goes down (: dont hate me for what's gonna happen.

At lunch, Jinyoung excuses himself from Minhyuk to call Mark. He hasn't really had any contact with him lately and he's worried. This is unlike Mark. Yeah, he's still a little ticked off about the whole Minhyuk thing, but he doesn't really care about that anymore.

His phone rings a few times as he enters the bathroom. "Hello?" He can hear Mark's groggy voice on the other end.

"Hey, did I wake you up? I'm sorry." Jinyoung says quietly.

"Oh, Jinyoungie." He can hear Mark perk up. "You're calling me?"

"Yeah, of course I am. How are you? I haven't talked to you in a while and I'm worried. Are you sick?" Jinyoung finds himself nervously biting his fingernails.

"I guess a little. I'm not feeling that well." Mark says. It becomes silent before he speaks again. "Will you spend the night tonight?"

"I..." Jinyoung thinks back to agreeing to spend the night at Minhyuk's house so they can catch up like they've been doing all week. "Of course I will." Jinyoung decides.

"Thank you. You should get back to class or whatever it is you were doing. I don't want to disturb you." Mark says.

"You're not disturbing me, I'm disturbing you. But I'll go anyway." Jinyoung agrees. "I love you, okay?" 

"I love you too." Mark says in a relieved voice. "I'll see you after school."

"Okay. See you later." Jinyoung hangs up and quickly goes back to his lunch table. Minhyuk is talking to everyone else that's sitting there. Jinyoung sits down next to him again.

"Hey, you're back." Minhyuk smiles.

"Yeah. Hey, I think we'll have to put a rain check on me spending the night. Something came up." Jinyoung says.

"Oh, is it serious?" Minhyuk seems concerned and Jinyoung laughs a little.

"No, but I have something I need to do this weekend. I'm sorry."

"No, it's completely fine. You have stuff you need to do, I understand." Minhyuk smiles yet again. Jinyoung's heart skips a beat and he mentally curses himself.

As he turns back to his lunch, he thinks to himself. He'd be lying if he said Minhyuk doesn't make his heart race a little. He's the same as he was when they were fourteen except way cuter now. He's definitely grown up. Jinyoung is very aware of that fact. But just because he thinks Minhyuk is cute doesn't mean he'd choose him over Mark. Besides, he knows what he did was pretty petty. When they were all at Jaebum's and Jinyoung denied Mark a kiss... he was still mad at what Mark said. He knew he was being petty and really hurt Mark, and he needs to apologize for that.

"You alright?" Jinyoung hears. He turns and sees Minhyuk staring at him.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking." Jinyoung smiles. "It's nothing."

-

After school, Jinyoung goes straight to Mark's place. He walks right in and goes upstairs to find his boyfriend asleep. 

"Just because you don't have school anymore doesn't mean you can just sleep whenever you want." Jinyoung grumbles half-heartedly. He's just glad Mark is resting.

"Jinyoung?" Mark yawns in confusion before opening his eyes to see Jinyoung above him.

"Hey, you okay?" Jinyoung sits on the bed next to Mark.

"Mhm. You?" Mark asks. Jinyoung nods. "Lay down."

"I might fall asleep if I do." Jinyoung smiles as Mark hugs him tightly.

"That's okay. Rest all you want." Mark says. "I'm just happy that you're here."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Mark."

"I'm just jealous. Like you said. I'm jealous that another guy is showing interest in you and I don't trust him." Mark shrugs. Jinyoung turns in his arms to look right into his boyfriends eyes.

"You have nothing to be jealous of. Yeah, I'm curious about what's he's been up to all these years and when I look at him I remember what happened between us, but you're more important to me. You're my boyfriend and the one I've been through hell with, okay? Don't doubt how much I love you."

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Mark asks suddenly. Jinyoung pauses for a minute.

"I... don't know." Jinyoung honestly answers. "I don't think I do, but then he was my first love. They say you don't forget your first love."

"They also say your first love never works out." Mark adds. Jinyoung laughs at that.

"Luckily for you, you're my second and last love." Jinyoung says, resting his head against Mark's chest. "Also, I want to apologize for not kissing you at Jaebum's. I was still mad at you for saying I shouldn't hang out with Minhyuk. I should've just kissed you."

"You can kiss me now." Mark suggests. Jinyoung looks up and Mark's lips meet his almost immediately. He's missed this feeling. The feeling of Mark's warmth. His arms circling around him, and his soft lips. Their kiss quickly deepens into something more, but pull away when they hear the front door open. Mark's parents always seem to come home early on Fridays.

"Lets sleep." Jinyoung yawns. Mark closes his eyes and they both fall into a deep sleep.


	26. June 1, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a ot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foreshadowing ooooh~

"Hey." Jinyoung hears as he stands at his locker. He turns around to see Minhyuk standing there with a big smile on his face.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" Jinyoung asks, coughing into his arm.

"Nothing much. Are you alright? Did you get sick?" Minhyuk frowns.

"I'm fine." Jinyoung dismisses the issue. "It's just a little cold. I think Mark gave it to me when I saw him." 

"Ah, Mark. So is he the reason you had to cancel on me?"

"Yeah. I don't think he's been feeling very well. So I wanted to see how he was." Jinyoung explains.

"So that's how you got sick. You weren't making out or something and that's how you got sick, right?" Minhyuk jokes, elbowing Jinyoung playfully. Jinyoung can only blush and avert his gaze. "Oh." Minhyuk clears his throat.

"Well, um..."

"So you two are happy then?" 

"Yeah, mostly." Jinyoung smiles.

"That's good, I guess." Minhyuk says, letting out an inaudible sigh. Jinyoung doesn't notice though. "Why are you wearing a hoodie? It's so hot outside."

"You know... just... the cold I have." Jinyoung lies unsuccessfully.

"It's a fever that makes you feel cold, you know." Minhyuk points out. "Come on, take it off." 

"No, really. It's okay." Jinyoung shakes his head.

"At least loosen the strings around your neck then. You have them tied up." Minhyuk reaches towards Jinyoung's hoodie and quickly loosens the strings only to see several hickies on his neck and collarbones. "Oh."

"This is so embarrassing. I'm sorry. I told him not to, but he doesn't listen." Jinyoung tightens the strings again. Minhyuk doesn't look at him, and stares down at his own feet as they walk towards their first class.

"Did it hurt?" He asks suddenly.

"Hmm? Oh, the hickies? No." Jinyoung bites at his lip nervously.

"So then did they feel good?"

"Oh, would you look at that. We've made it to our class. We better sit down." Jinyoung laughs nervously. Him and Minhyuk reach their seats and Jinyoung suddenly has a thought. "Hey, its June first."

"Yeah." Minhyuk nods.

"How come you came to the school system so late in the year?"

"Oh, that. Well, my parents needed to move for their jobs. That's pretty much the only reason why." Minhyuk shrugs.

Jinyoung nods. "That's cool. I'm glad this is our last week of school."

"Me too."

"Hey, that reminds me, me and the guys were thinking of doing a camping trip next weekend. What do you think? Wanna come?"

"That's sounds like a lot of fun. I'd love to come." 

"Awesome. I'll add you to our group chat too. That's where we're planning everything. Also just a warning, they're pretty vulgar sometimes so don't be shocked."

"It's okay, it probably won't faze me too much." Minhyuk smiles. Jinyoung pulls his phone out and quickly adds Minhyuk to the group chat before putting his phone away and paying attention to the lesson.

Before they know it, lunch is coming around. Minhyuk and Jinyoung meet Kunpimook at their usual lunch table.

"Sup." Jinyoung greets his friend.

"Hey. Did you check your messages? We're figuring out sleeping arrangements for the trip. Jaebum wants to be the one with his own tent." Kunpimook rolls his eyes.

"Tell him he can't because I've invited Minhyuk along too." 

"Really?" Kunpimook perks up. "I was actually thinking of inviting him too. Will you really come?" Kunpimook asks.

"Yeah. It sounds like fun." Minhyuk grins.

"Awesome. How about we all meet at Jaebum's after school today to talk about it? Text Mark and tell him to come." Kunpimook says.

"Okay." Jinyoung nods. He shoots Mark a quick text before they all go to get their lunches and sit down to eat.

-

When Kunpimook, Jinyoung, and Minhyuk reach Jaebum's house, everyone else is already there. Jinyoung goes straight over to Mark and seats himself on his boyfriends lap, not aware of Minhyuk's staring eyes.

"Hey, man." Jaebum greets Minhyuk.

"I've invited him. So let's talk about sleeping arrangements." Jinyoung sighs, leaning back into Mark.

"It's a given that we'll be sharing a tent." Mark points out.

"Yeah, you two. I'll share with Jackson. You three need to decide who you want to sleep with." Jaebum motions towards Kunpimook, Yugyeom, and Youngjae. "Oh, you too, Minhyuk."

"I'll share with Minhyuk. I go to school with him so I know him better than Gyeom and Youngjae do." Kunpimook speaks up.

"Okay, awesome. That actually took less time than I thought it would." Jaebum quickly taps away at his phone, writing down all the sleeping arrangements. "So four tents. Mark, I remember you saying your family has one. We have ten of them so you can either use yours or one of mine."

"You have ten tents?" Minhyuk asks. "Why?"

"My parents are obsessed with buying in bulk. It's a long story." Jaebum waves it away. "I'll send the checklist in the group chat."

"Awesome. I'm so excited." Youngjae grins.

"Where are we camping at anyway?" Minhyuk asks.

"There's this clearing at this park near here for primitive camping." Mark speaks up now. Minhyuk looks over at Mark who is underneath Jinyoung. He nods slowly.

"How long will we be out there?"

"Like two or three days. I guess it depends on how long we want to stay." Jinyoung shrugs.

"Cool. I'm looking forward to it." Minhyuk smiles. "Well, I have some things to do later, so I'm gonna get going."

"Want me to walk you home?" Jinyoung sits up from sitting against Mark's chest.

"No, I don't want to bother you." Minhyuk waves him away.

"No, it's alright. Let's go." Jinyoung stands. He turns to Mark and leans down, pecking him on the lips. "I'll call you later, alright?"

"Mhm." Mark nods, not too happy that Jinyoung's leaving to go with Minhyuk. But he decides he needs to let Jinyoung do what he wants and to just trust him.

"Bye guys." Both Minhyuk and Jinyoung wave as they exit Jaebum's house.

"I take it you stopped freaking out about him hanging out with Minhyuk?" Yugyeom asks Mark.

"I didn't freak out, okay?" Mark retorts. "I still don't know if I like him, but I have to trust Jinyoung." Mark sighs. "I should get going anyway. I'm still job hunting."

"Job hunting. Okay." Jaebum rolls his eyes.

"What?"

"You're not job hunting. You're gonna go home and sleep, aren't you?" 

Mark smiles suddenly. "Aww, you know me so well." He playfully punches Jaebum's shoulder.

"Whatever, go." Jaebum chuckles.

"See you later."

"Bye."

After Mark leaves, Yugyeom is the first one to speak up. "Why do I feel like some drama is about to go down at this camping trip?" He asks.

"I feel it too. It's like this weird sense of dread. We don't need anymore Jinyoung and Mark drama." Jaebum rubs his eyes.

"It's something about Minhyuk..." Jackson notices. Youngjae nods.

"I know, right. He's cool and all, but the way he looks at Jinyoung. It's too weird." 

"Nobody should ever look at Jinyoung like that." Jaebum shivers in disgust. "It's gross."

"Let's not worry about it too much." Kunpimook says. "We're just guessing here. Maybe nothing will happen. Let's not expect anything, okay?"

"You're right." Yugyeom nods. "Let's just assume everything will go smoothly." They all agree before separating off to go do their own thing, trying not to worry too much about their friends.


	27. June 5, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist. Sorry for any errors and typos!

Minhyuk can't stop himself from staring at the back of Jinyoung's head as he sits in the very back of Jaebum's parent's van next to Kunpimook. He's studied the back of Jinyoung's head so well that he could probably draw it blindfolded at this point.

"Mark, stop." Jinyoung's laughs as Mark kisses his cheek repeatedly. Minhyuk suddenly forces himself to look away and to his hands in his lap. He doesn't like seeing Jinyoung and Mark interact like a couple. He doesn't want them to be a couple.

After everything that happened when they were fourteen, Minhyuk tried to forget about Jinyoung, but he couldn't. He's been thinking about him this whole time. He's been wondering what would've happened if he had never left like that. What if they were together back then? Would they still be together now? Would he have left Minhyuk for Mark?

"Hey, we're here." Minhyuk is snapped from his trance by Kunpimook who is nudging him gently.

"Oh, sorry." Minhyuk laughs. He quickly exits the van and helps everyone unload the back. It's not long before they have everything set up to their liking. At least that's what Jaebum thinks.

"Wow, it's a lot easier to camp with eight people." Jaebum smiles, satisfied with their teamwork.

"That literally took like two hours." Yugyeom whines, panting a little from the labor.

"That's way faster than if it was just me by myself." Jaebum shrugs.

"Yeah, that's because you're incompetent." Jackson tells his best friend. Jaebum raises his arm like he's going to hit Jackson, but restrains himself.

"What now? Should we set up a fire or something?" Kunpimook asks, changing the subject. "This seemed a lot more exciting than it actually is."

"No, just wait. It's gonna be awesome." Jaebum says. Should we go swimming? Look at this amazing, clear lake just waiting for us. Let's go."

"It's like 6pm. Should we really go swim now? I'm tired." Youngjae pouts.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Jaebum convinces his younger friend. Youngjae sighs, and Jaebum knows he's won.

"I'm down." Mark says.

"You're down for anything. You literally the most laid back person I've ever met in my life." Jinyoung snorts.

"Is that a bad thing? I think I'm more fun this way." Mark grins. Jinyoung just rolls his eyes. "You'll come too, right?"

"I don't know. I don't really feel like swimming right now." Jinyoung tries to say.

"No, no, no. You're coming in." Yugyeom tells him. Suddenly, Jinyoung is hoisted up above his six friends. He tries to squirm from their grasp, but their grips on him are too strong.

"Wait, at least let me have a minute to prepare myself!" He panics.

"Where's the fun in that? Life is all about surprises." Jaebum laughs.

"Surp--" Jinyoung is suddenly tossed into the water and Minhyuk is sure he's going to come back up furious at everyone. That's how Jinyoung used to be, at least. When Jinyoung came up, he took a few breaths before laughing and playfully splashing his friends, taking Minhyuk by surprise. Things have really changed.

"See, it's not that bad." Mark says.

"You're right. It actually feels really good." Jinyoung nods. He turns a little and sees Minhyuk still standing at the shore. "Hey, what are you waiting for, Minhyuk? Come in!" He waves towards his friend. Minhyuk enters the water immediately. He can't even bring himself to disobey Jinyoung. He doesn't really want to go into the water, but Jinyoung wants him to so...

"It's cold." Minhyuk frowns before pasting a big grin on his face. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we play chicken?"

"Ooh! I want to!" Youngjae starts jumping up and down excitedly. "Jaebum, let me get on your shoulders!"

"Who wants to be the opponent, get on." Minhyuk lowers himself and Jinyoung doesn't hesitate to go towards him. Mark tries not to yank Jinyoung away from Minhyuk as he watches him try to get on Minhyuk's shoulders. It's all innocent but still. Just the thought of Jinyoung touching Minhyuk in any way is enough to make Mark angry.

Minhyuk on the other hand is ecstatic. Jinyoung's body is warm as he struggles to get on Minhyuk's shoulders. Minhyuk honestly never thought he'd be able to get this close to Jinyoung with Mark in the way. This is more than enough for him.

When the boys are successfully in the air, the game begins... and ends. Youngjae almost immediately falls off when faced with Jinyoung's strength.

"I guess all the bullying paid off in one way." Jinyoung laughs, making a joke about his past. It's a relief he can even do that.

"Cheater." Youngjae glares up at the older boy.

"I didn't cheat. I'm just stronger than you." Jinyoung smiles sweetly. "Mark. Let's fight."

"What? You want to fight me?" Mark asks. "I thought you said I have noddle arms?" Mark pouts.

"I was kidding. You don't have noddle arms. Come on." Jinyoung laughs. Mark smiles and quickly hops up on Jaebum's shoulders. Instead of seriously fighting though, the boys just gently push at each other, giggling like children.

"Come on, fight." Jaebum whines, now trembling from the weight of Mark on his shoulders. Minhyuk decides he can't take it anymore and pretends to lose his balance, causing him and Jinyoung to fall back into the water.

"Yes! I won!" Mark yells happily. He throws himself from Jaebum's shoulders and into the water.

"I'm hungry." Jackson says, walking out of the water. "Let's set up a fire and make something before gets dark."

"Yeah, we should probably do that." Kunpimook agrees. Everyone comes out of the water and tries to dry off as best as they can before helping find firewood.

"I'm gonna go change, alright?" Jinyoung shivers. "I'm just getting over my cold and I really don't want it to come back."

"Alright, but be back soon. Don't think that this means you can't help us." Jaebum tells him.

"Yeah, yeah." Jinyoung rolls his eyes. He starts walking towards the tents a little ways away and feels someone following him. He turns to see Minhyuk. "Changing?" He asks.

"Yeah. I'm cold." Minhyuk says. Each of them enter their tents and quickly change before coming out again. Minhyuk looks at Jinyoung and thinks that maybe this is his chance. 

"Lets go back." Jinyoung says.

"Wait, there's some dry wood that way. Let's go get it." Minhyuk says. Jinyoung looks towards the trees where Minhyuk is pointing. He nods, figuring it's better to be safe and get the extra wood.

"Alright, let's do it."

The two guys collect some sticks and put them in a small pile. They do this for about five minutes before Minhyuk stops.

"Hey." He calls.

"Hmm?" Jinyoung looks up after putting more sticks into their pile.

"There's something I need to tell you." Minhyuk lets out a sigh. Jinyoung gives him a confused look.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't think of me differently for this, but I just wanted to... tell you that I like you."

"What?"

"I have feelings for you, Jinyoung. I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I just need to get it off my chest."

"Minhyuk..." Jinyoung starts.

"I just... I've been thinking about you this whole time. While I was gone, I tried to forget about you but I couldn't help but wonder if we'd be together if I had never left."

"Minhyuk, I don't want to have this conversation." Jinyoung shakes his head and tried to walk off, but Minhyuk won't let him. He quickly grabs Jinyoung's wrist and pulls him into his chest before doing something he probably shouldn't have.

If Jinyoung was unsure about his feelings towards Minhyuk before, he's not anymore. He knows exact how to feel right now as he feels his childhood best friend's lips on his.

In that split second they're kissing, flashes of what happened with Mark go through Jinyoung's mind. He's too traumatized by that whole experience and this is just pushing him over the edge.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Jinyoung pushes Minhyuk away as hard as he can. Minhyuk is startled by this and falls into the ground hard, looking up at Jinyoung with wide eyes.

"I-I didn't mean to--"

"Don't you ever do that again!" Jinyoung yells. They both stare at each other in that silence for a moment. "I can't believe you just did that."

"It was in the moment. I didn't mean to. I didn't even think about it." Minhyuk says, pleading with his eyes towards Jinyoung to forgive him.

"If I was unsure about my feelings towards you, now I'm sure. The only one I love is Mark, Minhyuk. I can't believe you'd do that to me..." 

"It was just a kiss... what's the worst that could happen over a stupid kiss?" Minhyuk gets up and raises his voice at Jinyoung.

"Just a kiss? I almost ruined my whole relationship with Mark and all of my friends over just a kiss. I almost killed my boyfriend over just a kiss." Jinyoung yells. He lets it a sighs and rubs his eyes. "Look, Minhyuk. I know we were each other's first loves or whatever, but that was years ago. For your sake and mine, please move on."

"I want to, but I can't. Not now at least. There's just something about you Jinyoung." Minhyuk tells his friend.

"Please... I don't want to lose you as a friend, but if you're gonna keep this up, I won't be able to stay with you."

"Don't leave me." Minhyuk says. "Please. I know you don't want to accept my feelings, but don't leave me. Just... let me get over you on my own time if that's what you really want."

"It is what I really want, but I don't think being by my side will help." Jinyoung makes clear. Minhyuk can't even argue with that. They just look at each other. Jinyoung really doesn't want to lose his friend after they just reconnected. Besides, Jinyoung definitely knows what it's like to have feelings for someone who'll never like you back. All those years of being in the closet... he's definitely had a crush or two.

"Just let me do this on my own, please? I'll only hang out with you when other people are around or whatever to make you feel better. You're one of my only friends."

Jinyoung sighs and shakes his head. "I don't want to deal with this right now, Minhyuk." Jinyoung says. He starts walking off and Minhyuk grabs him.

"What's so great about Mark, huh?" Minhyuk yells. Jinyoung stares at him. He can see how much he's hurt by the rejection, but it had to happen.

"What's so great about Mark? He means everything to me. He accepts me how I am and loves me unconditionally." 

"I can do that. I accept you. I love you. Why won't you love me back?" Minhyuk asks. He seems frantic now for an answer like never before. It's like something just cracked.

"Minhyuk... please don't do this. I really don't want to lose you again, but if you keep doing this..." Jinyoung rubs his eyes irritatedly. "Just stop, okay?"

"I just want to know why I'm not enough." Minhyuk slumps down and falls to his knees.

"Look, it has nothing to do with you being good enough or not. I've been with Mark for a while, and you just came back. The feelings I had for you when we were fourteen are gone. That was a long time ago."

"I haven't forgotten though. What about me, Jinyoung?" Minhyuk sniffles, looking up at his childhood friend.

"You have to find someone else and move on. I'm sorry." Jinyoung crosses his arms. "I think I'm gonna go, Minhyuk. You obviously can't handle being around me right now, so I'm just gonna leave."

"No, please don't leave." Minhyuk begs, but Jinyoung's mind is made up. He's already walking back towards the others, who he knows heard he whole exchange.

Everyone is staring at Jinyoung as he comes back. "Jaebum, please take me home." Jinyoung says in a low, somber tone.

"O-okay." Jaebum agrees right away without an argument. Jinyoung quickly packs up his hings and notices Mark doing the same.

"What are you doing?" Jinyoung asks.

"If you're leaving, I'm leaving. I don't want to ruin everyone's fun. And I feel like Minhyuk might try to pick a fight with me if I'm here without you." Mark admits. Jinyoung nods in understanding.

The boys quickly finish packing and are soon riding silently in the car while Jaebum takes them home. It seems like an eternity before he's dropping them off at Mark's house.

"We'll be back in a few days... hopefully. We'll see how things work out." Jaebum sighs.

"Sorry about this, Jaebum." Jinyoung frowns.

"No, it's okay. It for your and Mark's safety. I'm happy to help."

"Thanks." Jinyoung gives a sheepish smile before watching Jaebum speed away. 

"Are you okay?" Mark asks, putting a hand on Jinyoung's shoulder and then pulling him in for a hug.

"Why me?" Jinyoung asks exasperatedly. "I'm not even likable like that."

"Yes you are." Mark chuckles. "I know I shouldn't be laughing, but it kind of funny, isn't it?"

"No, Mark. It's definitely not funny." Jinyoung pulls away to look at his boyfriend. "Aren't you worried or anything about Minhyuk?"

"Not really."

"Well why not?"

"Because I heard what you said. You openly chose me. I'm not worried about him." Mark shrugs. His nonchalance makes Jinyoung relax and finally smile.

"Can I stay over tonight?"

"Of course. You don't have to ask at this point, do you?" Mark grins. He grabs his boyfriend's hand and leads him inside. "Let's just forget about everything while everyone's away. Okay?"

"Okay."


	28. June 8, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO VERY EXTREMELY SORRY THAT ITS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE. FORGIVE ME. Short, fluffy chapter. Lots of foreshadowing. Enjoy.

It's weird, Mark and Jinyoung think. It's weird not being around everyone else constantly. They don't usually seem to have this much alone time. It's not that they were obligated to spend time at Jaebum's house before, because they weren't. It's just that now they have an excuse not to go over. Maybe it's not a good one, but it's something.

"We've never been alone this long." Jinyoung says. It's the fourth day. Neither of them know what to do at this point. They've eaten most of the snacks in both houses, finished almost all of the video games, and have slept until they couldn't sleep anymore.

"I know right. It's weird." Mark agrees. He lays his head down on Jinyoung's lap. "Hey, I have an idea."

"Hmm?" Jinyoung pushes the hair away from his boyfriend's forehead to get a better look at him.

"How about we be a real couple now?" Mark suggests.

"What?"

"Lets be real. Let's go on dates and do cool stuff. I mean, we're real, but let's do the stuff that other couples do. The stuff we haven't really done yet."

Jinyoung stops to think. That sounds pretty nice. "Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"Mm... how about we go to the mall?" Mark grins.

Jinyoungs smile falls and he glares at his boyfriend. "What's your obsession with the mall? All you ever want to do is go to the stupid mall."

"I like the mall." Mark pouts.

"You like the mall but you never have any money to buy anything. You like window shopping, but where's the fun in that?" Jinyoung questions.

"It's fun to look at things, I don't know. If you think my idea is so stupid, what do you have in mind?" Mark rolls his eyes.

"How about a picnic?" Jinyoung suggests. Mark sits up.  
"Actually, that's a pretty good idea."

"Isn't it? I'm so clever." Jinyoung grins happily. "Let's get ready then."

Mark and Jinyoung spend a little while making food and freshening up to go out on their first real date. The thought is exciting and they're both ready to spend some quality time together that doesn't involve junk food and video games.

"How about we go to the school? To the tree we used to sit at." Mark suggests as they get ready to head out the door.

"Okay, sounds good to me." Jinyoung smiles. The two leave Jinyoung's house with the basket in hand and start walking down the street.

It seems like they haven't been outdoor in days. The fresh air and warm sunlight feels incredible to them. It brings about positive feelings and many smiles.

It's not long until they reach the school and head over to the grassy hill with the tree where they used to sit at lunch. Mark lays out a blanket while Jinyoung starts rummaging through the basket and placing food out.

"This is so nice. I'm glad you suggested it." Mark smiles, glancing over at his boyfriend.

"Of course. It's nice to get outside one in a while." Jinyoung stretches. "You know, I remember something."

"Hmm?"

"It was that first time we agreed to meet out here. Do you remember?" Jinyoung asks. Mark thinks to himself for a moment.

"Isn't that when you bought me that kimbap?" He remembers.

"Mhm. I remember walking up and you were asleep. I was so nervous." Jinyoung admits. "You just looked so perfect to me. It was kind of scary."

Mark scoots closer to his boyfriend and rests his chin on Jinyoung's shoulder before kissing his cheek gently. "Really?"

"Yeah. My heart was racing the whole time we talked out there." Jinyoung chuckles. "I feel like such a nerd tell you this."

"Don't feel that way. It's cute." Mark grins. "Does your heart still race when you talk to me?" He teases.  
Jinyoung blushes, pushing Mark's shoulder playfully. "Why ask when you already know it does?" He questions. He meets Mark's eyes and they just stare at each other for a moment.

"I love you, you know that?" Mark whispers.

"Of course I do. I love you too. More than I can express." Jinyoung responds.

"The whole thing with Minhyuk..." Mark begins. Jinyoung lets out a small sigh. "Just hear me out, okay? I know this isn't something you want to talk about, but now that we've both calmed down from it, let's talk."

"I thought you said you weren't worried about him. What more is there to discuss?" Jinyoung questions.

"I just... I feel bad for him." Mark shrugs. 

"After what he did?"

"Yeah. He just wants to be loved. I understand. And he's not like Minsoo. At least not in my eyes. He was a friend who developed feelings for you. I mean, he was your first kiss. He was and still is important to you." Mark starts. "So I get why he did it. I'm not saying he was in the right, obviously. You're my boyfriend and I don't want anyone besides me to touch you like that."

"You shouldn't have sympathy for him. I feel so wronged by him." Jinyoung frowns, thinking about his old friend. Yeah, sure, Jinyoung is at fault too. He felt like he might've led Minhyuk along since he was unsure about his feelings, but Jinyoung has realized something. He never had feelings for Minhyuk. It was just the excitement and the memory of his first love being back. He would never leave Mark for Minhyuk.

"I do have sympathy. He couldn't forget about you for all these years."

"That doesn't mean anything." Jinyoung shakes his head.

"I just don't want your friendship with him to be ruined over this. Yeah, he shouldn't have done that, but I honestly thinks that he knows that he was wrong." Mark explains. It's silent between the two of them for a moment.

"So what are you trying to say? That I should talk to him?" 

"Yeah." Mark nods. "I mean, he just got rejected by someone he's had feelings for forever. How would you feel?" Mark asks.

"Since when did you become such a good person?" Jinyoung asks, annoyed. He lets out a sigh as Mark laughs.

"I've always been a good person." He grins. He plants another kiss on Jinyoung's cheek before trailing over to his lips.

"I'm only gonna do this because you asked me to. Not because I want to. I still don't know if I can forgive him." Jinyoung says between kisses.

"It's a start and that's all that matters." Mark smiles once again.

"Alright. I'll give it a try." Jinyoung nods.

"Thank you."

"Mhm." The two intertwine their fingers and sit back against the tree. "Lets not think about him for a little while, okay?"

"Okay." Mark nods, closing his eyes. "It's nice not being around our friends all the time, isn't it? We definitely needed this break away from them."

"True." Jinyoung laughs a little. "Especially Jaebum. He still gets on my nerves even though I we don't really have any beef between us."

"Yeah, well, you're both very strong-minded people so it's expected."

"Strong-minded, huh?" Jinyoung smiles. "Am I still? I like to think I've changed. I thing strong-minded means narrow-minded."

"It doesn't. Strong-minded is like you know exactly what you want and people can't sway you. It can be a bad thing, sure, but it can also be good. You stood up to Minhyuk and told him you'd never leave me."

"I thought we just agreed not to talk about him anymore."

"It was an example." Mark explains. "Just... while we're on the topic of him again..."

Jinyoung sighs. "What is it?" 

"Promise me you'll talk to him sooner rather than later, because I know you. You like to put things off when they're undesirable."

"I promise, okay? I promise."


	29. June 12, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters left )': I hope this doesn't seem too rushed or anything!

Things have been tense in the friend group. It's been two weeks since the whole Minhyuk incident and things haven't gotten much better. The guys like him and all, but he's not really their friend. He's constantly hanging around them and calling them, which is fine since he doesn't have anyone else to hang out with, but it's a little much. Especially since they've all just met him not too long ago.

This is also putting a strain on the relationship between everyone and Mark and Jinyoung. Since Minhyuk comes around so much, the couple doesn't come around as often. Yeah, Mark has been trying to convince the guys to be understanding towards Jinyoung, but he needs to get his friend.

"Is he here?" Youngjae whispers to Yugyeom as they walk into Jaebum's house. Once they turn the corner into the living room, they both sigh. Of course he's here. Why wouldn't he be?

The two boys see Minhyuk sitting next to Jackson, looking depressed as usual. He's been like this for a whole week.

"Minhyuk." Yugyeom says, irritated. The older boy looks up and flashes a sad smile.

"Hi."

"Look, stop moping. What's the problem here?" Yugyeom asks.

"Gyeom..." Youngjae hits his best friend's arm.

"No, we need to fix this. It's putting a huge strain on everyone." Yugyeom says.

"He's kind of right." Jaebum admits. He doesn't look at Minhyuk though. "What exactly is the problem?"

"You like Jinyoung right? Just stop liking him." Jackson shrugs.

"It's not that easy..." Minhyuk shakes his head.

"Yes it is. Go on Tinder or something. What about Grindr? You're into that kind of thing, right?" Jackson laughs.

"Can you stop making a joke out of this?" Jaebum slaps Jackson's head.

"Ouch. You don't have to be so violent." Jackson whines.

"Look, Minhyuk. We like you and you're cool and all, but this is too much. Even Jackson, my best friend, doesn't come over as much as you. I have a life outside of this friend group. And you being depressed all the time makes me depressed. It's seriously killing my vibe, dude." Jaebum says all at once.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize... it's just hard to think about anything else." Minhyuk mopes.

"Why do you even like Jinyoung anyway? He's not that great when you really think about t." Jaebum sighs.

"What do you mean?"

"He's rude, he's not that cute, he thinks he's all that because one guy likes him. I mean, he has Mark on a leash basically and it's really annoying. They love each other so much that I want to puke and punch them anytime I make contact." Jaebum frowns in disgust. "I mean, he's so unlikable. He's totally inexperienced too. Mark is his first boyfriend. It's his first relationship. Wouldn't you rather date someone who knows what they're doing? You probably haven't heard their whole story either, have you?" Jaebum questions. "Let's just say that Jinyoung thought that Mark cheated on him and he almost killed Mark. Do you really want to be in a relationship with a psychopathic monstrosity like Jinyoung?"

Everyone is silently staring at Jaebum while he catches his breath from talking so fast.

"Why don't you tell him how you really feel." Yugyeom says flatly.

"There's more, but I'm restraining myself." Jaebum smiles.

"Did he really almost kill Mark?" Minhyuk asks.

"I saw it with my own two eyes." Kunpimook says suddenly, making everyone jump.

"Jesus... when did you get here?" Jackson asks. Kunpimook walks over to the couch and sits.

"I've been here." He shrugs. "But I did see it. Mark was in rough shape. Not only did he almost die, but he took Jinyoung back after that. They're literally inseparable. You shouldn't waste your time on someone like that."

Minhyuk sighs. "I know that you guys are right, but it's not that simple."

"We know, but you're not doing anything about it. All you're doing is wallowing in your sorrows. You'll never get over him like this." Youngjae is exasperated and wants this all over with at this point. He walks over to Minhyuk and rests his hands on the older boys shoulders. "Get out there and talk to someone else. Do something. Don't hang around us anymore because it's only making you depressed."

"Jeez. I didn't know you felt that strongly about all of this." Jackson is surprised at Youngjae's outburst.

"Sorry." Youngjae clears his threat and straightens himself up. "I didn't mean to yell at you like that."

"No, you're right. I'm only making things worse for myself." Minhyuk nods. "I should get out there, but I just... I want to apologize to Mark and Jinyoung."

"No. No, this is going in the wrong direction." Jaebum says. "The whole lets-get-over-Jinyoung thing will only work if you don't see him."

"I feel guilty though, and I need to apologize. I think that's what I'll do." Minhyuk gets up with resolve. "I'll be back. Maybe."

"Jesus." Jackson covers his face.

"Should I stop him? Because I can go stop him." Kunpimook points towards he door.

"No, just... let him go." Jaebum sighs. He gets up. "I'm going to go take a nap. This is too much for me. He obviously doesn't understand what it means to get over someone. He wants to suffer."

While the guys all talk, Minhyuk speedily makes his way to Jinyoung's place. He knocks on the door, and Mark answers.

"Are you here to see Jinyoung?" Mark asks before Minhyuk can say anything.

The two stare at each other for a moment. "I'm actually here to talk to both of you, if that's okay." Minhyuk says.

"Um, sure. Come in." Mark let's him in and points him towards the couch before going up to Jinyoung's room to get him.

"Who was at the door?" Jinyoung asks, yawning. He's lounging on his bed tiredly.

"It's Minhyuk." Mark says. He knows what he wants. He knows why he came here. "He said he needs to talk to us. Both of us."

"What?" Jinyoung sits up, no longer tired.

"He's downstairs. Get dressed and come down." Mark says, tossing a shirt and pair of shorts that were on the floor towards Jinyoung.

Jinyoung scrambles to dress and then races down the stairs to see Mark and Minhyuk standing in the living room awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Jinyoung immediately asks.

"I wanted to talk to you. I have something I need to say." Minhyuk says.

"To both of us?" Mark asks. Minhyuk nods.

"First of all, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have been so bold with my confession. I kissed you and that was uncalled for. So I'm sorry, Jinyoung. Also, I'm sorry to you, Mark. I heard a little bit about what you two have gone through, and I guess just the thought of something like that possibly happening again is probably scary. So I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you, Minhyuk." Mark shakes his head. "I don't think you're a bad person."

"Thank you." Minhyuk nods.

"I don't think you're a bad person either, but I want to make it one hundred percent clear that--"

"That you'll never love me. I understand." Minhyuk says, his voice a little sad although he keeps smiling.

"That's not exactly how I was going to put it..." Jinyoung frowns.

"You love Mark. I know that. I just... I had hope." Minhyuk shrugs. "I guess I kind of held onto the thought of you being the exact same when we eventually met up again. That I would be all you'd need. I was living in a fantasy world."

"Well you can still be my friend, I just don't think we should see each other for a while." Jinyoung tells him.

"I... that's not what I want. That's not why I came here." Minhyuk tries to explain. "I still want to be able to come around and see you, but I promise I won't try to make a move." 

"That's not gonna help you get over me, Minhyuk. It just doesn't work like that." Jinyoung shakes his head, arms crossed.

"Jinyoung." Mark cuts in. Both of the other boys look at him. "Let him heal on his own."

"But--"

"If he wants to do it the hard way, let him. Who knows, maybe him seeing us happy together will smack him back to reality. You know, like going cold turkey." Mark shrugs.

"Yeah." Minhyuk nods, his eyes twinkling with a newfound respect for Mark.

"I just... how would that work out?" Jinyoung frowns.

"It will. Lets just try it out for a little bit." Mark smiles. He rubs his hand in circles on Jinyoung's back.

"Thank you, Mark. Honestly, I thought you'd be the least understanding person. Turns out you're the one who understands me the most." Minhyuk lets out a self-depreciating chuckle.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You'll find someone." Mark pats Minhyuk's shoulder. Honestly, he didn't know he could be this friendly with Minhyuk. He hated him the first time he laid eyes on him, but now he just feels bad. Everyone's had lows, and he wants to help Minhyuk with his.

-

"Are you sure about this?" Jinyoung asks Mark as they walk to Jaebum's house for the first time in a long time.

"Of course I am. We haven't seen everyone in a long time, and we can't avoid Minhyuk forever. We shouldn't avoid him."

"It's awkward. Painfully so." Jinyoung pouts.

"Oh, stop it. You're fine." Mark laughs, rolling his eyes. The two finally reach Jaebum's place, and don't even knock as they walk inside.

"Hello?" Mark calls as he peeks his head into the living room. He sees everyone sitting there, even Minhyuk.

"Are my eyes deceiving me?" Kunpimook asks with an extremely over dramatic gasp.

"We're back." Mark laughs happily.

"What the hell?" Jaebum's sits up. "I thought we got rid of you guys?"

"You can never get rid of us." Jinyoung flashes a small, sheepish smile to everyone.

"So... does this mean things are okay between you guys?" Yugyeom asks, eyes darting between the couple and Minhyuk.

"They're... okay for now." Jinyoung nods.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jackson questions. "Did Mark almost fight him? I knew it." He jumps to conclusions.

"Actually, Mark was the understanding one. Jinyoung is the one that almost fought me." Minhyuk chuckles a little sadly. "It's okay though."

"Wow." They all mumble.

"Anyway, we're back." Mark tells them, pulling Jinyoung towards an empty spot on the couch.

"I had a feeling you guys would be here today. That's why I came over." Minhyuk starts. "I just want to thank everyone and apologize again. I know I've been a nuisance. I'll still be around, but not as much. I've decided to follow Youngjae's advice and try to get back out there."

"Youngjae's advice? Um, if I recall, I was the first person to suggest Tinder and Grindr to you. I think I deserve a little recog--" Jaebum slaps a hand over his best friend's mouth.

"Not the time, Jackson." He growls.

"Fine." Jackson grumbles beneath his friend's palm.

"I've already met someone, and I have a date tonight so... I guess we'll see how that goes." Minhyuk blushes.

"Wow! I'm so happy for you!" Mark grins. He looks over at his boyfriend, who's just staring at Minhyuk. His expression is unreadable. Mark decides to elbow him back into reality. "Isn't that great, Jinyoungie?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Jinyoung nods. Everyone stares at him expectantly. He sighs. "I'm seriously happy for you, Minhyuk." Jinyoung gives in. Finally breaking away that stupid "tough" facade of his.

"Are you?" Minhyuk smiles.

"Of course I am. At the end of the day, you're still my childhood friend, and I still love the shit or of you. Strictly platonically though." He makes clear.

"I know, Jinyoung." Minhyuk grins. He looks--and is--genuinely happy right now. Jinyoung suddenly realizes that Minhyuk really has accepted everything and that he really is trying to move on. At first he didn't trust him, but now he can see it. He has faith in his friend.

Jinyoung, to everyone's surprise, goes up to Minhyuk and pulls him into a giant hug. "Stranger danger, okay? Have fun on your date." He whispers to his friend.

Minhyuk wraps his arms around his friend at that. He gives him a right squeeze before patting his back. "Of course. Don't you remember that I did taekwondo when I was younger?"

"You're right! I totally forgot about that." Jinyoung remembers as he pulls away. "So who's this guy you're meeting? Can I see his picture or something?" Jinyoung grins. Him and Minhyuk go off to talk about boy things while everyone else rolls their eyes.

"Ugh, disgusting. I swear I'm gonna ban people that are in relationships from coming into this house." Jaebum's frowns disgustedly.

"Oh, please. Then you'd have to ban yourself." Kunpimook says. Everyone looks at him before redirecting their attention towards Jaebum, who is now turning red in embarrassment.

"What?" Jaeckson sits up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I saw them. I saw you, Jaebum. I saw you and your little girlfriend." Kunpimook points at the older boy.

"Y-you little..." Jaebum starts.

"You have a girlfriend and you didn't tell us?" Jackson yells.

"I tried to but you guys made it into this big thing and then I panicked and said I didn't!" Jaebum admits.

"Wow, when I meet her, I'm telling her you tried to hide her from us." Jackson laughs.

"When you meet her? Who said you're gonna meet her?"

"Wow, now I'm gonna track her down and tell her you don't want your friends to know about her. Lets see how that plays out. Your move, Mr. Moodypants." Jackson glares.

"Freaking thanks, Jackson. Some best friend you are." Jaebum looks away, annoyed but embarrassed. "Just... you guys will meet her soon, alright?"

"If we don't like her... it's over." Jackson says.

"Don't worry, you'll like her."


	30. June 23, 2015

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the official "ending," but there's gonna be a cute epilogue so don't u guys worry ur pretty little faces ok. Just prepare urselves for this last part.

"Guys!" Jackson screams happily as he skips into Jaebum's living room. "She's here."

"Who is?" Mark asks.

" _Her_. Jaebum's girlfriend!" Jackson claps like a seal. He seems more excited about this than Jaebum does as he gets up from his seat to open up the door.

"How'd you know?" Kunpimook eyes Jackson.

"I've been staring out the window since I got here and just saw her park in the driveway." Jackson giggles happily.

"You're such a creep." Youngjae narrows his eyes.

"I'm not a creep. I'm just excited to finally meet my best friend's girlfriend." Jackson explains, finally taking a seat on the couch. Everyone watches the entrance to the living room, waiting for the couple to walk in. When they do, things go completely silent.

Jaebum's girlfriend is... the exact opposite of him. At least she seems like she is. He's so hard and rough, but his girl... she looks so cute and sweet. How in the hell she decided to date Jaebum is beyond his friends.

"Um, hi." The girl waves with a big smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you guys. I've heard so much about everyone. I'm Soojin."

"Soojin, it's really nice to meet you." Mark gets up first to shake the girls hands. "I'm Mark. This is my boyfriend Jinyoung." Mark pulls his boyfriend to his feet.

"Hello." Jinyoung smiles at her.

"Nice to meet you both." She grins happily. Everyone, at that point, gets up and greets Soojin, shaking her hands and asking her all types of questions.

"Are you really dating Jaebum?" Youngjae asks incredulously.

"Yeah. We've been together for two or so months now." Soojin nods.

"What? Two months?" Jackson glares at Jaebum. "And when were you planning on telling us?"

"Actually, that's my fault." Soojin starts. She flashes everyone a guilty look. "I never said it outright but I wasn't ready to meet everyone yet. Just in case things didn't work out between us, you know?"

"Wh..." Jackson is literally speechless. "No! It's okay! Of course. I totally understand." He laughs.

"What? _Now_ you're being understanding? Because she said it was her who wasn't ready to tell everyone? Wow, some friend you are." Jaebum pouts.

"Hey, you shouldn't be mean to your friends." Soojin tells her boyfriend, who straightens his back up at her reprimanding.

"Yes, ma'am." Jaebum replies.

Kunpimook's jaw drops. "Did you just--you just--oh my god. What kind of sorcery is this? Jaebum actually obeying someone? This is unheard of. He doesn't even listen to his poor parents." Kunpimook tells Soojin.

"What? You don't listen to your parents?" She asks Jaebum, who swallows hard.

"B-baby, it's not like that. He's just trying to make me seem bad. Of course I listen to my parents." Jaebum tries to convince her. She nods, but gives him a look that says, _if you're lying to me I'll literally kill you,_ and everyone absolutely loves that.

"So, what are you guys up to? Were you doing anything before I got here?"

"Nope. We were literally just waiting for you to get here." Yugyeom tells her with a shrug. "We should go out and do something now that you're here. What about lunch?"

"Sounds good to us." Mark speaks for both him and Jinyoung.

"Ooh, lets go to that cute cafe down the street from here. I bet Soojin would love it." Jinyoung smiles.

"I love cafes!" Soojin grins.

Jaebum has to literally, _physically_ stop himself from rolling his eyes at this. Soojin is getting along with Jinyoung just a little too much. Jaebum still can't really stand Jinyoung and if his girlfriend starts taking a liking to him, it's over. He'll be forced to go on weird double dates with Mark and Jinyoung for the rest of his existence, and he really doesn't want that.

"Jinyoung is a bad person." Jaebum says without thinking.

Everyone looks at him incredulously. "Jaebum? What did I tell you about being rude to your friends?" Soojin glares, punching Jaebum's arm. He rubs it like it's sore and frowns.

"I meant to say that he beat up Mark once so you two shouldn't become friends because he'll only hurt you."

"Wow, thanks for being up the past, you dick." Jinyoung growls.

"Yeah, Jaebum. Not cool, man." Mark frowns.

"Look, I'm trying to save myself. I don't want Soojin and Jinyoung to become friends. If they do, I'll be forced to go on double dates with you two all the time. I know how she works." Jaebum taps his temple with his pointer finger.

"Well, I think that Jinyoung is really charming and I've always wanted to know a gay couple, so I guess your plan backfired, now didn't it?" Soojin smiles at her boyfriend. Jaebum groans, but when Soojin wraps her arms around him and flashes big, puppy eyes at him, he melts. "Don't be mean to him, okay?"

"Okay." He agrees right away before leaning down and planting a kiss right on his girlfriends lips. She giggles in response, but the others--besides Mark and Jinyoung--all pretend to gag.

"Disgusting. We already have to deal with those two kissing and now you guys? Just kill me." Kunpimook makes a disgusted face.

"Welcome to our world, Jaebum." Mark laughs at Jaebum's scowl. "Now come on, lets go eat. I'm starving."

"You're always starving." Jinyoung rolls his eyes. The eight of them get up and start towards the cafe.

-

Later that night, Mark and Jinyoung are laying in Mark's bed, both staring up at the ceiling. Mark looks over to his boyfriend, biting on his lip nervously. Jinyoung senses Mark staring at him, and looks over with a smile.

"What is it?" He whispers.

"How much do you love me?" Mark asks.

"What do you mean?" Jinyoung chuckles.

"Do you see me in your future?"

"Of course I do. That's not even a question." Jinyoung says. He changes position to lay on his side. "What's this about?"

"I don't know. Just... earlier when we met Soojin and everything, I realized that I'm getting older."

"Seriously, Mark? You've literally just graduated from high school." Jinyoung laughs, rolling his eyes.

"I'm being serious, Jinyoung." Mark sighs. "I don't know, something about seeing Jaebum with someone and being so happy made me wonder how long they'd be together for. Obviously I want them to be together for a while and stuff, but you never know. So I just want to make sure that you love me enough to want to be with me."

"Mark... of course I love you enough." Jinyoung's brow furrows.

"Enough to want to marry me?" Mark asks.

Jinyoung is silent. Shocked. "This isn't..."

"It's an informal one, but it is. It's a proposal." Mark takes Jinyoung's hand in his, bringing t up to his mouth and planting a kiss on his skin. "Promise me you'll marry me someday."

"Of course I will, but I'm still in high school." Jinyoung feels his eyes fill with tears and he tries to dry them as he laughs.

"I know it's soon, but... we can marry after you graduate from college." Mark whispers.

"Okay." Jinyoung nods, sniffling.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." Mark smiles, wiping his boyfriends tears away.

"No, I just didn't expect this. It came out of nowhere." Jinyoung sniffles.

"I wouldn't say out of nowhere. I've been thinking about this for a long time. I don't know... I guess I've just always known you were the one." Mark tells him.

This only makes Jinyoung cry harder. Mark pulls him into his chest with a laugh. "Stop doing this to me."

"I love you, Jinyoungie. I'll never let you go."

"You better not." Jinyoung hits Mark's chest.

Mark chuckles. "I promise you I'll buy you a ring too."

"Really?" Jinyoung looks up at Mark.

"Of course. And I'll ask your mother like a real man too. Call me old-fashioned." Mark smiles. Jinyoung happily presses his mouth to Marks, kissing him eagerly. "Wow, someone's happy." Mark notices.

"Of course I am. The love of my life just informally proposed to me." Jinyoung grins, eyes still teary. "We've been through so much together. I'd never be able to love anyone else besides you." Jinyoung says truthfully.

"Me too." Mark kisses Jinyoung's forehead and reaches over to turn off his nightstand light. "Let's go to bed."

"Alright. Goodnight." Jinyoung whispers.

"Goodnight."


	31. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinyoung and Mark, and their brand new lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end. I'm crying.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Jinyoung looks at Mark, his husband, with big eyes.

"Shut up, she'll like you." Mark rolls his eyes.

"But what if she doesn't?" Jinyoung asks again.

"Jinyoung, seriously. You've already met her. Everything will be fine. She'll love you." Mark puts his hands on Jinyoung's shoulders, giving them a light squeeze.

"But what if she doesn't like having two dads?"

"If you ask me one more dumb question, I'm gonna fight you." Mark sighs. "Look, she's almost here so act--" Mark is cut off by a knock at the door.

"Oh my god. It's her, isn't it? It's her." Jinyoung covers his mouth in excited nervousness.

"I guess I'll get the door." Mark shakes his head. He stands and opens up the front door with a smile. He's met by the sight of the social worker carrying a small suitcase with her and a little girl behind her.

"Hello, Mark. Here's Hana." Rina, the social worker, puts a hand on Hana's back and ushers her towards the door. 

Mark grabs her bags and lets the two into the house. "Hey, Hana. How are you?" Mark crouches down to be closer to the little girl.

"Good." She says quietly, a little timid still.

"You remember me? I came to see you a little while ago with Jinyoungie. I'm Mark, but you can call me daddy if you want to." Mark grins. The little girl relaxes and smiles as well.

"Okay, daddy." She laughs. Mark opens up his arms and Hana hugs him tightly.

Jinyoung, meanwhile, is watching with his hands over his mouth. He thinks that this is literally the cutest thing he's ever seen in his life. He gets up and sits with his legs crossed on the ground near Hana.

"Hi, Hana." Jinyoung waves after she lets go of Mark.

"Hi." She grins. "Do I call you daddy too?" She questions. Jinyoung nods and Hana wraps her little arms around Jinyoung's neck and hugs him cutely. He wraps his arms around her and she sits herself down in his lap.

"It looks like she's already adjusting nicely." Rina laughs. "I'll be back on two weeks time to check on you guys, alright?" Rina strokes Hana's hair gently. "I think she's in good hands."

"Thank you so much for your help." Mark stands up and shakes Rina's hand.

"It's no problem, Mark. I should get going now though, so I'll see you three later." She waves.

"Bye, Rina." Hana waves happily. Jinyoung does the same. Rina leaves the house and Mark looks down at his daughter.

"Hey, wanna see your room?" Mark asks her. She gets up excitedly.

"Yeah!" She jumps. She takes Mark's hand and he leads her towards the stairs. Jinyoung trails after them as they make their way up and towards the last door on the right.

"Here it is." Mark says as he pushes the door open. Hana gasps when she lays her six year old eyes on the light purple walls and toy chest. Her little bed was fitted with baby blue sheets and there was a small desk in the corner. Jinyoung decorated the place himself and he thinks he did a pretty good job.

"This is all mine?" Hana asks, going toward the toys.

"Yeah. All for you." Jinyoung smiles as he watches her open the chest and take a few toys out.

"Thank you so much." She turns around and runs back towards the two, hugging their legs tightly. Jinyoung picks her up and kisses her cheek affectionately. 

"I hope you'll like living here with us, Hana." Jinyoung smiles.

"I already love it!"

-

"Hana!" Mark calls for his daughter who thought it would be funny to run out of the bathroom mid bubble bath and make a huge mess of everything. "Please come back. I was gone for like two seconds." Mark whines, running around, trying to find Hana.

Jinyoung comes in through the door. He is just arriving home from work and sees Mark with bubbles on his hands and arms.

"Um... what are you doing?" Jinyoung asks.

"Trying to find Hana. She thought it would be funny to run away while I was giving her a bath." Mark frowns. Jinyoung laughs.

"She did that? That _is_ pretty funny." Jinyoung chuckles.

"It's funny until she slips and falls because she's soaking wet! Help me!" Mark pushes Jinyoung.

"Alright, alright." Jinyoung rolls his eyes. "Hana! Daddy's home. I brought you a treat from the store." Jinyoung calls out. Almost immediately the two dads hear small feet padding down the wooden floor.

"Really? What is it?" A soapy Hana asks excitedly.

"I'll only give it to you if you promise me you'll finish your bath." Jinyoung says. Hana spins ok her heel and sprints back towards the bathroom. Him and Mark hear a big splash before Mark sighs.

"Thank you so much." He leans in to steal a kiss.

"Of course. Now hurry up." Jinyoung smacks Mark's butt as he walks away towards the bathroom again.

After Hana is finished in the bath, she puts her pajamas on and goes right to Jinyoung. "What'd you bring me, daddy?" She smiles cutely, her front tooth missing.

"You know how Mark daddy doesn't like it when you eat a lot of candy?" Jinyoung whispers. Hana nods. "Well, I got you your own secret bag of candy." Jinyoung holds up a bag and Hana gasps happily. "You gotta keep it a secret though, okay?" Jinyoung bends down, holding his pinkie out. Hana wraps her own tiny finger around Jinyoung's and giggles.

"I promise."

"What are you two doing in here?" Mark asks, walking in. Jinyoung hides the bag of candy behind his back.

"Nothing. I'm gonna go put Hana to bed and read her a story." Jinyoung picks up his daughter and runs upstairs, her giggling all the while.

He sets her down and tucks her into bed, giving her a piece of candy to ear while he reads her a story. Before he knows it, she's out like a light. Jinyoung grins and kisses Hana on the forehead. 

"Goodnight, princess." He whispers.

-

"Okay, Hana. We need to have a talk." Jinyoung starts. Mark and Jinyoung have decided that it's really confusing having Hana call them both daddy.

"Okay, about what?" She asks.

"It's kind of confusing when you call us both daddy. Maybe you could call us each something different? I dont know." Jinyoung sighs.

"But I say 'daddy' differently when I'm calling you guys." Hana says.

"What? You do?" Mark asks.

"Yeah. When I'm calling Mark daddy, I say it like, 'daddy'!" Hana exclaims happily. "When I'm calling Jinyoung daddy, I say it like, 'daddy'." She says flatly. Jinyoung's jaw drops while Mark starts laughing hysterically.

"What--since when were you so mean to me?" Jinyoung pouts.

"She's most definitely your daughter." Mark laughs, wiping tears from his eyes. "Wow, honey, you really take after Jinyoung, don't you?" Mark pets her head. She laughs happily and gets up to go back to her room and play.

"How is she like me for saying that?" Jinyoung frowns at Mark.

"Babe, you're moody and sassy. She takes after you so much." Mark hugs his husband, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "At least we know she's fully adjusted now."

"Well I'd hope so. It's been a year." Jinyoung gives in and wraps his arms around Mark, leaning into his warmth. "Those are not the traits I want her to have, but I'm glad she's like me."

"Me too." Mark smiles. "Now come on, we should make dinner."

"How about we go out instead." Jinyoung juts his lip out, begging Mark. Mark sighs but grins.

"Alright, alright. Hana!" He calls. "Come and get your coat on. We're going out for dinner!" Her fast little footsteps can be heard rushing down the upstairs hallway and the stairs. She's soon pulling her coat on and shoes along with it.

The three of them head out and go eat together. As a family.


End file.
